The semi-final line-up at the Grand Slam of Darts gets completed on Saturday night when the last two quarter finals are played out on what looks to be a night where the favourites could well shine in Wolverhampton.
There isn’t a seed remaining in this bottom half of the draw and nobody left in it has even made the final of this tournament so there is a chance for someone to tread new ground over the next 36 hours or so.
Stowe Buntz vs Stephen Bunting
The first of the two matches over the course of the night is a repeat of a game in the group phase of the tournament as the American raider Stowe Buntz looks to continue his remarkable run when he takes on Stephen Bunting for a last four spot.
Buntz beat Bunting 5-3 in their group meeting despite averaging seven points less than his English opponent but I would be amazed if there isn’t a significant turnaround here. Far be it from me to discredit a run from an outsider in a tournament but Andrew Gilding missed an absolute stack of doubles in the second round against him. What is more worrying for Buntz followers is their man hasn’t averaged 100 in the first nine darts in any match since his opening one where he probably felt he had nothing to lose against Peter Wright. At this level you’re just not getting anywhere over a best of 31 if you are not below 201 after nine darts regularly. Bunting in contrast is scoring like a dream and the longer the format the better a player tends to score in this game. This one is all in the hands of Bunting. If he hits his doubles to anything like a competent percentage I don’t see Buntz getting to double figures let alone winning unless there is a dramatic improvement in his scoring. His scoring is getting worse though and not better and the Bunting -4.5 legs looks a bit of a steal to me.
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Damon Heta vs Rob Cross
The last of the quarter finals sees two men who have won TV events in the past battling it out, although in the case of Damon Heta he has only done it in with a partner when he won the World Cup. Rob Cross has won the two biggest tournaments in the game and will look to move to within two wins of adding this title to his CV.
Heta has gone along nicely enough this week and has a win over Michael van Gerwen to his name which is never too shabby but I’m not convinced he is firing on all cylinders. Indeed, Cross sits around seven points better than him in the tournament average this week and should also have had a win over MVG to his name but he missed match darts to beat him in the group phase. Since then Cross has averaged 98.36 in a win over Fallon Sherrock and 103.97 in a good win over Nathan Aspinall. There doesn’t appear to be anything in the Cross game which isn’t working and the leg on leg pressure he will provide the Australian here will eventually take its toll I believe. Heta won the first meeting between these two when he stunned everyone to win the Brisbane Masters in 2019 but since then Cross has won all four matches, 8-3 at the Melbourne Masters a week later, 6-1 in a European Tour event in 2021, 7-4 in the semi-final of a European Tour event last year and 8-1 in the final of the New South Wales Masters earlier this year. There is something about facing Cross that Heta struggles with and I don’t see him getting much closer to ‘Voltage’ in the form he’s shown this week.
Tips
Back S.Bunting (-4.5 legs) to beat S.Buntz for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
Back R.Cross (-1.5 legs) to beat D.Heta for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
