The Players Championship Finals tournament concludes at Butlin’s in Minehead on Sunday on a day where as with all of these ITV events the event gets played down from the quarter final stage to the champion.
As is always the case in these weekend tournaments we will be able to preview the quarter final but time restrictions will deny us the chance to look at the latter stages of what is the final event before the World Championship.
Callan Rydz vs Jonny Clayton
The opening match of the afternoon will see the lowest ranked player remaining in the tournament in Callan Rydz taking on the former finalist of this event in Jonny Clayton with a place in the semi-final awaiting the winner.
Clayton had a good win over Ross Smith in the second round and then brushed Ryan Joyce aside in the last 16 but by his own admission he hasn’t hit top form yet and he will hope to do that over the course of this final day. Rydz has had a largely smoother path to this quarter final stage. He hasn’t beaten anyone of note in the world rankings but he did have a decent win over Keane Barry in the last 16 and is one of those who will fancy his chances if Clayton lets him hang around but neither of these are inspiring a bet out of me.
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Rob Cross
The second match in the quarter finals sees Dirk van Duijvenbode looking to make it through to the final session of an ITV tournament for the second time in two months when he takes on the former world champion Rob Cross.
Van Duijvenbode went to the final of the World Series earlier in the year and he’ll be looking to go that deep in this competition. You get the feeling that Cross has been waiting to be put out of his misery in this tournament because Gary Anderson had a match dart to beat him and Martin Schindler faded the longer the match went on in the last 16. You don’t see van Duijvenbode doing that. He has averaged 100 and 113 in his last two performances and he did that from 7-3 down against Searle so he is feeling very good about life at the minute. If he is anything close to that 100 average level and is clinical on his doubles then I expect the Dutchman, who is getting better all the time, to beat Cross, who really only hangs around in matches against the top players, with a bit in hand.
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Luke Humphries vs Joe Cullen
The penultimate quarter final of the session sees two class acts battling it out when the number two seed Luke Humphries takes on the man who opened the year winning an ITV event in the form of The Masters champion Joe Cullen.
Humphries is getting better all the time and he has played pretty well this weekend but there is something about Cullen in these tournaments that see him go under the radar and then be around on the final day still. Cullen has the experience of winning a TV tournament and he made the final of the Premier League this term as well so he’ll fancy his chances in this match, but Humphries has played really well so far and I sense this match is in his hands. If he hits his doubles well he has the scoring power to win this match but it can be a big if that so I’m happy to sit this one out and watch the action.
Danny Noppert vs Michael van Gerwen
The last of the quarter finals is the pick of the matches on Sunday afternoon when the UK Open champion Danny Noppert looks to extend his unbeaten record in Minehead when he goes up against a Michael van Gerwen who has taken a number of big titles in 2022 and will be eyeing up another.
Noppert is into the top 10 in the world now so he merits a great deal of respect but whenever van Gerwen plays the outcome is largely in his hands because if he plays well and is crisp on his finishing then he wins most matches he plays. Noppert has won four of the last six against his fellow Dutchman though so he will be confident heading into this one, although those wins were all over a shorter distance than this which might be significant. I certainly wouldn’t want to oppose Noppert either in the match or on the handicaps but I’m not rushing to back him either so I’ll sit this one out.
Tips
Back D.van Duijvenbode (-1.5 legs) to beat R.Cross for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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