The quarter finals begin at the Grand Slam of Darts on Friday evening when we find out the two men who will compete in the semi-final in the top half of the competition in Wolverhampton on a night where entertainment should be guaranteed.
We are up to the best of 31 legs for the remainder of the tournament and you would expect the cream to rise to the top from here on in. There are two standout players on show but the two underdogs have the potential to be dangerous.
Ricky Evans vs Gerwyn Price
The opening quarter final is a repeat of a group match from the first day of the tournament where Ricky Evans goes up against Gerwyn Price in a clash between an emphatic favourite and an outsider who the Welshman knows only too well can be dangerous.
Evans beat Price in that group match, coming out on top in a deciding leg, but this is obviously a different ball game. The big question is whether Evans has the leg on leg consistency over this period of time to stick with a Price who we know is tried and tested over the distance from his wins in this tournament in the past and even longer formats than this when he won the World Championship. If Evans can maintain his level over upwards of 25 legs then his ‘playing with the house money’ approach to the week could serve him well but there is no getting away from the head-to-head between the two. Prior to that win on Saturday, where the format probably suited the lower ranked player, Price had won the last 11 meetings and most of those are wide ranging victories. I think Price will have learnt from Saturday. He has got better with every match he has played and the leg on leg consistency that he will produce should be too much for Evans. Price is only being asked to cover 5.5 legs on the handicap and that would need him to win 16-10 or easier. That feels within his range when you consider their two best of 19 leg matches were both won 10-3 by Price. I’ll take the Welshman to cover the start here.
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Luke Humphries vs Michael Smith
The second quarter final of the night is the pick of the two matches on paper as the world number one Luke Humphries looks to make it to the last day of the tournament once again when he meets the 2022 winner of this event in Michael Smith.
Smith came through what turned into an absolute epic encounter with Chris Dobey in the previous round and there is reason for him to think that his name might be on the trophy once again when you consider how the deciding leg of that contest played out. The issue is whether his body will hold up to this distance and whether he can maintain a good level over it given the injury issues he has had and still is having. Humphries himself looked to have a bit of an injury on Wednesday night but Jurjen van der Velde was never going to be good enough to beat him over 19 legs. Smith certainly can but this is one of those matches right now in their career where Humphries will need to come off the top of his game and Smith will need to be on top form for that to happen. I don’t see that happening but there is enough danger in the Smith scoring power to suggest he can push Humphries. That puts me off getting involved in handicaps, especially with the respective injury issues so I’ll just sit this second game out and leave my betting interest on the first game.
Tips
Back G.Price (-5.5 legs) to beat R.Evans for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
