The evening session at the PDC World Darts Championship on New Year’s Day will see the semi-final line up confirmed when the last two quarter finals are played out on what should be a spectacular night of darts inside the Alexandra Palace.
The last two winners of this tournament are on show in this evening session and they take on a pair of young guns who have their eyes set firmly on winning this title do this should be a great way to end the first day of the year.
Peter Wright vs Callan Rydz
The first game of the night sees the 2020 champion Peter Wright going up against the man who was probably one of the most improved players in 2021 and will be looking to kick on again in his career in 2022 in Callan Rydz.
A sign of the improvement Rydz has made over the last 12 months comes in the form of how he has performed in this tournament. He has oozed class and has dropped just the one set in his four matches, powering past Brendan Dolan and Nathan Aspinall. He has scored heavy, finished well and averaged high. On the face of it, Wright hasn’t looked as impressive in this event but when you break his matches down, the sets he has played well in he has played very well and you would imagine from here on in we will see the best of ‘Snakebite’. I think that offers up the potential for a cracking contest here and I’m a little surprised we can get even money on over 7.5 sets. Rydz has beaten Wright on a stage and took him to a deciding leg in the Players Championship Finals in 2020 so he doesn’t fear the Scot. I think Rydz keeps this competitive at the very least.
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Gerwyn Price vs Michael Smith
The pick of the quarter finals is the last one to take place as the world number one Gerwyn Price continues the defence of his title against the 2019 beaten finalist in Michael Smith, with either James Wade or Mervyn King awaiting the winner.
I don’t think it is stretching the truth too much to suggest that Smith has been the player of the tournament so far. That will fill him with confidence but he’ll know more than anyone that this event isn’t about how you play at the beginning of it, it is more about how you play from here on in so he needs to make sure he plays somewhere close to the level he has done thus far in the tournament. Price hasn’t hit top form yet but there were signs the longer his match against Dirk van Duijvenbode went in the previous round. We know from last year that Price can kick on from here and he has become extremely hard to beat on the big stage whether he is playing well or not. I still expect Smith to lay a real challenge down to him here though and I think that ‘Bully Boy’ can force a deciding set at the very least, if not end the reign of Price completely.
Tips
WON – Back P.Wright vs C.Rydz – Over 7.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back it here:
WON – Back M.Smith (+1.5 sets) to beat G.Price for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with William Hill
Back him here:
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