It is quarter final night at the World Grand Prix inside the Mattioli Arena in Leicester on Friday when for the first time this week both halves of the draw will be in action on the same evening as we find out which four players will reach the semi-finals of the double start event.
As ever with this tournament, we have lost seeds all over the place and only two of them remain now so there is a chance for some players to make major moves up the rankings over the next few nights which should ensure more competitive darts.
Mike De Decker vs James Wade
Two men who have been giant slayers this week already get the quarter final party started when the Belgian number two Mike De Decker takes on the twice former winner of this tournament in James Wade, who is beginning to revoke memories of his halcyon days in the event.
Wade has seen off two former world champions in Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price. He played well against the former and not so well against the latter but he is here to look to make the semi-finals once again. De Decker will be looking to reach the last four of a major tournament for the first time here but the way he has dispatched Damon Heta and Gary Anderson certainly offers up belief that he can win this match. He absolutely demolished Anderson in the previous round even though his starting double wasn’t as crisp as it was against Heta. He still got in with the first throw on 85% of the legs though and that is important because it would be a huge surprise if he doesn’t outscore Wade in this match. Wade wasn’t perfect on his doubles against Price either. His starting double was decent in the main but he isn’t going to get the chances he needs to be 9/20 on the doubles here you wouldn’t think. De Decker has averaged 92.01 and 95.74 this week which is world class in a double start format. If he has that game with him here Wade is in trouble and I fancy the Belgian to cause a bit of an upset here. The Belgian leads the head to head 3-2 and his confidence is sky high. With a good start he could power clear here.
Rob Cross vs Ryan Joyce
The second quarter final of the night will see someone reaching the last four of the World Grand Prix for the first time when the former world champion Rob Cross takes on Ryan Joyce in what is a maiden quarter final for both men at this tournament.
Cross has come through a tricky draw so far beating Luke Littler and Martin Schindler and has certainly looked the best that he has done at any stage of the history of this tournament. Joyce eased past Josh Rock in the first round and someone dug himself out of a hole he created for himself to take care of Nathan Aspinall in a final leg in the previous round. Both these men look confident and while the numbers would point to Cross in this match, the fact that neither have been to this round before gives me the impression that this one might not follow the logic script. I hope that is the case because I’m on Joyce outright and I’d love another win from him to give us a bit of thinking to do on Saturday night. I’m happy to use the outright as an interest in this one.
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Luke Humphries vs Jonny Clayton
The pick of the quarter finals on Friday night is the third one onto the stage as the defending champion Luke Humphries looks to continue his title defence when he goes up against the former winner Jonny Clayton in what could be a great match if both turn up.
Clayton would have arrived with low expectations in this tournament but having seen off the best performer of the opening round in the second game in Ross Smith, he might be dreaming of a second World Grand Prix title. He has a significant hurdle to clear though in Luke Humphries who since Stephen Bunting missed a dart to take care of him in the first round has looked pretty imperious. He probably knew he had the beating of Ricardo Pietreczko in the second round but even so he took care of him with the minimum of fuss. Clayton has the game to see off Humphries in this format but he has to nail his starting double in the first turn regularly here. He also needs to cut out the silly loose darts in the scoring visit. I was looking at getting with Clayton in some fashion but I can’t find a line or price I’m happy with so I’ll leave this one alone too.
Joe Cullen vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The last of the quarter finals sees two men who have been all the way in TV majors battling it out when Joe Cullen aims for a second successive semi-final at the World Grand Prix when he takes on the UK Open winner from earlier in the year in Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Cullen has offered up two different sides this week so far. He was in a real groove in beating Chris Dobey in the first round but kind of fell over the line against Daryl Gurney in the second one hitting just 18/42 on the starting double and 10/31 on the closing one. Thankfully for him Gurney just couldn’t start or finish legs but it would be a surprise if Van den Bergh follows that pattern. He was away with the first or second dart in 10 of the 17 legs he played in beating Dave Chisnall on Thursday night and then plundered in seven 180s in a 3-1 win where he got better the longer the match went on. Cullen never averaged above 90.8 in any of the five sets against Gurney and if he doesn’t find his way into the 90 averages regularly here his campaign will end tamely. I fancy Van den Bergh here but am never comfortable taking odds on in this format. Instead, given that in five of the seven sets he has played here Van den Bergh has averaged in the 90s I’ll take him to cover a 1.5 set handicap at a much bigger price.
Tips
Back M.De Decker to beat J.Wade for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back D.Van den Bergh (-1.5 sets) to beat J.Cullen for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Betfred
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