The quarter finals begin at the Grand Slam of Darts on Friday evening when the top half of the draw reveals its semi-final inside the Aldersley Leisure Centre as four stars of the game battle it out for a place in the final day of the event on Sunday.
Two of the four seeds from this part of the draw have made it into the quarter finals and they have been joined by the Premier League finalist and a true legend of the game so we’re all set up for a great night of darts.
Michael Smith vs Joe Cullen
The opening quarter final sees two men who have enjoyed excellent campaigns in 2022 going at it when the world finalist Michael Smith takes on The Masters champion and Premier League finalist Joe Cullen over the best of 31 legs.
These two are pretty evenly matched. I don’t think it is insulting anyone to suggest that Smith is the better of the two and the rankings would suggest that, as would the fact he saw off Cullen in the group stage of this tournament. I think he’ll win here but he still has the odd crucial missed double in him which can cost him and can certainly cost anyone backing a handicap. Cullen isn’t exactly reliable on the outer ring either though so I don’t want to get involved in the match betting but over a match which is likely to have in excess of 26 legs I think the 8/11 on Smith to clear an 8.5 180 line looks a good bet. He will get a decent rhythm against Cullen and this longer format should only further help with that rhythm. When he is going well a 180 every three legs on average is certainly not beyond him and he might even have longer to get the required nine 180s if the match is closer. I like the over.
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Raymond van Barneveld vs Gerwyn Price
The second quarter final on Friday night sees the former champion Raymond van Barneveld taking on the man who is currently in possession of the title in the shape of Gerwyn Price in a repeat of a clash from the group stage.
Surprisingly, it was Barneveld who got the better of Price in the group phase but that was over nine legs and this one is over 31 and it would be a huge surprise if Price doesn’t come out on top here. The group phase and indeed his second round win over Simon Whitlock suggests that the Dutch star can be competitive in the early stages of this match but the longer it goes the more you would have to expect Price to begin to run away with things assuming he stays close to Barney in the early part of the contest. Ultimately we have one man who regularly plays these long format matches these days and the other who doesn’t play many now. That gives Price a huge advantage but whether it is enough of one to cover a 4.5 leg handicap remains to be seen. I suspect he will but there isn’t as much wiggle room as I would like so I’ll leave this one alone.
Tips
Back M.Smith – Over 8.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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