The Grand Slam of Darts quarter finals begin on Friday night when we find out which two men will compete in the semi-final in the top half of the draw on Sunday afternoon on what looks like another quality evening of arrers.
All eight players remaining in the draw will have seen the extent to which proceedings have opened right up and they will all be looking to go the distance from here on in. We are guaranteed a new champion which is sure to incentivise the players on show even more.
James Wade vs Josh Rock
The opening quarter final of the night sees the man who has lost in the final of this competition in the past in James Wade going up against one of the brightest youngsters on the scene in the form of Josh Rock in a really intriguing match.
You would suggest that Rock is the one on the upward curve of the two and he has played well this week, coming through without losing a match so far, but this will be the first time he has played over this sort of distance and you wonder if that will catch him out. One thing is for sure, if Rock doesn’t go the course and distance Wade will be waiting for him. I wouldn’t say that Wade has played particularly well throughout the tournament but there have been bursts which have got him away from opponents and we have seen over the last 20 years or more that when Wade gets out in front he can be very tough to reel in given the leg on leg pressure that his finishing provides. I would imagine this will be a close match but Wade has seen off newcomers like this in the past. I think he’s the value pick here but Rock is playing well enough to come through so I’ll leave this one alone.
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Luke Humphries vs Gary Anderson
The pick of the quarter finals on Friday night is the second match onto the stage as the World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries takes on a resurgent Gary Anderson who will be looking to go two wins away from a first Grand Slam title.
These two met in the group stage of the tournament when Humphries won 5-1 and he has been very impressive in this event to date, winning all four of his matches and averaging over a ton in each of them. He looks to be getting better the longer the competition has gone on too. That statement also applies to Anderson who delivered one of his best stage performances in ages in beating Gerwyn Price in the last round. The task for him would be to repeat that level of showing and if he can do that then we should be in for an absolute corker of a match here. I think this will be much closer than their group meeting. I’m certainly not going to oppose Humphries but I’m not keen to take Anderson on given his recent form either. The bet I do like in this match is for Anderson to hit two or more 100+ checkouts. He has actually only hit one in the tournament but the longer format and rhythm of these two men should ensure that the Scot gets into a flow. With the way Humphries scores there won’t be many chances for Anderson to lay up on a big checkout and he’ll probably need a couple of them to keep with his man here. Anderson usually improves in all departments the longer a tournament goes on and that can see him nail a couple of ton plus shots in this quarter final.
Tips
Back G.Anderson – 2+ 100+ checkouts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
