It is quarter final night at the World Grand Prix on Friday when the eight men remaining in the competition all take to the stage looking for a spot in the semi-final of one of the biggest events of the season.
As always happens in this tournament we have lost some big names but four of the top six in the world rankings have made it through to the quarter final stage and some other big names are on show too on what should be a great night of action.
Gerwyn Price vs Martin Schindler
The opening quarter final of the night sees the former champion Gerwyn Price up against a Martin Schindler who will be treading the stage on last eight night at the World Grand Prix for the very first time in what is just his second appearance in the tournament.
Schindler eased past a terrible Raymond van Barneveld in the opening round and then fought off a bit of a storm against Stephen Bunting in the second round and certainly deserves to take his place in this contest. Price has gone largely untested apart from a couple of legs early on against Danny Noppert in the first round. You sense this match is in the hands of Price. If he plays well he will win it and his record in the format suggests he will do exactly that. I can’t see past a Price win here but the prices reflect that and I can’t find a value way of supporting him so I’ll leave this one alone.
Michael Smith vs Andrew Gilding
Two TV tournament winners on the second meet in the second quarter final as the world champion Michael Smith takes on the man who triumphed in the UK Open in March in Andrew Gilding, in an interesting looking contest.
Gilding has seen off two former world champions already this week in Rob Cross and Gary Anderson, having to battle to beat them both, and now he’ll look to take care of the current holder of that trophy but you sense if that is going to happen he will need to up his game a little. That is because Smith has oozed class so far in the tournament. In wins over Callan Rydz and Brendan Dolan the world champion has dropped just three legs in five sets and averaged over 95 in the opening round. That is world class darts regardless of who is throwing them so if he maintains that level, Smith is going to be hard to beat. I sense Gilding will get at Smith at some point in this match but I’m not sure it will be enough to land too much of a blow so with the odds about right I’ll sit this one out too.
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Peter Wright vs Luke Humphries
The penultimate quarter final is the pick of them as the former world champion Peter Wright takes on a Luke Humphries who has dominated on the European Tour over the last two seasons and now wants a TV title to add to his CV.
Going into this tournament if you knew this was going to be a quarter final you would have had Humphries as a massive favourite but two rounds in and there isn’t many stats that Humphries comes out on top in. Wright started this tournament seemingly out of nick and in the middle of a poor campaign whereas Humphries has been playing well. The odds for this one would suggest that is still the case even though statistically Wright has been much the better player of the two. Humphries was lucky Luke Woodhouse missed a bunch of doubles to win all three sets they played in the second round whereas Wright took the best that Ryan Searle had to offer and came back with his own heavy artillery. I’m priced in on Wright here. I don’t know why it is but Humphries hasn’t scored this week. He is a full 10 points behind Wright on the averages without the starting double in play so if the Englishman doesn’t get away as he has been he is vulnerable here. Wright knows how to perform in this format and a 7/4 price is too big for me to ignore.
Chris Dobey vs Joe Cullen
The last of the quarter finals is the only one which doesn’t have a seeded player involved as the last two winners of The Masters go head-to-head for the semi-final spot when Chris Dobey faces the man he claimed that title from in Joe Cullen.
Dobey goes into this quarter final having taken care of Michael van Gerwen in the previous round. He won that match in a deciding set but probably should have won it 3-1 such was the dominance he showed after the first set. Joe Cullen took care of Ross Smith in the second round with a barrage of scoring and some really appealing finishes. For me, these two have been the two best players on the week and I’m expecting a cracking contest, one where I would be surprised if we don’t need all five sets before it is settled. I certainly expect a fourth set so a 7.5 180s line looks a country mile on the low side. Cullen covered this on his own on Thursday night but Dobey hit six himself. If we get at least a four set match then we need one 180 per set each. These two are more than good enough to deliver that.
Tips
Back P.Wright to beat L.Humphries for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back C.Dobey vs J.Cullen – Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with BetVictor
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