All 32 players have played two matches in the Grand Slam of Darts and over the next two nights we will lose half the field and be left with the 16 men going through to the knockout stages and to fight it out for a major title.
We’ve seen some brilliant darts mixed in with some indifferent ones as the pressure and the tension of the round robin stage start to grip even the very best and the most experienced.
Monday night we will decide the fate of those in Groups E-H which means we will see the likes of Raymond Barneveld, Terry Jenkins, Mark Webster and James Wade look to seal their spots in the last 16.
In all there are eight matches in the session at the Wolverhampton Civic on Monday night and given that these are the final matches in the group we might even be subjected to a nine dart shootout to decide who goes through. That would be the ultimate drama.
The first match of the night sees Jonny Clayton taking on Geert de Vos. A win for Clayton gives him every chance of going through. A 5-0 win ensures he goes through and a 5-1 win guarantees him a nine dart shootout. De Vos needs to win 5-0 and hope and pray Jenkins gets a good hiding.
The second match sees Robbie Green taking on Martin Phillips. A Green win is likely to ensure he qualifies while Phillips needs a big win and to hope that Phil Taylor does a job on Rowby-John Rodriguez. Any sort of win for Mark Webster against Michel van der Horst will be enough to see him through if Wade beats Keegan Brown.
In the fourth match Andy Boulton takes on Gary Anderson knowing he has to win for a chance of third place and the extra prize dosh. That match is followed by arguably the game of the night as Robert Thornton plays Terry Jenkins.
Jenkins has to win to have a chance of going through by right but he could lose and still make it if de Vos has beaten Clayton narrowly earlier in the night. Thornton will need a certain number of legs to make it through which makes backing him hard to do as he may not chase the win.
Phil Taylor is as good as through with his leg difference so strong but he can make sure when he takes on Rowby-John Rodriguez and James Wade is in the same position when he faces Keegan Brown. The night ends with a straight knockout between Barneveld and Larry Butler.
I always think this is a tricky set of matches to bet on because some are already through, some are already out and by the time they play more could be through or out so finding value bets is never the easiest thing to do.
Fortunately there are a couple of bets that I like early in the night before the dimensions of everything change. If I was to bet in the later games I would be tempted to take Taylor to do a job on Rodriguez but after a poor Sunday I’ll leave that alone.
My first bet is going to be on Jonny Clayton. I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen of him this weekend although I shouldn’t be surprised because this guy did beat Justin Pipe and Jelle Klaasen to qualify for the tournament.
Geert de Vos has been a typical Geert de Vos this weekend. He has been mustard on his scoring by and large but his doubling has been awful. It might be that with him all but out of the tournament he will free up and attack the doubles but he’ll have to because Clayton won’t be giving him too many chances I don’t think.
Given the way de Vos has doubled this week and the low motivation he carries into this match I’m happy to get on the PDC player in this cross-code clash.
The other bet I like is on Mark Webster to see off Michael van der Horst. The Dutch BDO player has struggled this week. His scoring has been anything but consistent and his finishing is hit and miss at best and I think he’s there for the taking here.
Mark Webster saw off Keegan Brown in his first match but ran into a monster in James Wade in his second. He didn’t do a lot wrong in that match though and if he repeats the performance he’ll have far too much for the BDO man in this one given he’s back to his best form.
Van der Horst is yet to average anywhere near 90 this week while Webster has been safely over that so that form should translate into a one sided win.
Back J.Clayton to beat G.de Vos for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Stan James
Back M.Webster (-2.5 legs) to beat M.van der Horst for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
Blog darts YTD: +12.19pts
