The second round of the World Grand Prix will be completed on Wednesday as the eight players in the bottom half of the draw battle it out for places in the quarter final.
If the players weren’t edgy enough going into this tournament then seeing James Wade and Phil Taylor ruthlessly dismissed from the competition on Monday night will have done nothing to ease the nerves and pressure. For the likes of Gary Anderson though the draw has suddenly opened right up.
As with Tuesday night’s action we’re at the best of five sets for the next few days which gives everyone a little more breathing room so we should see some quality tungsten thrown here.
The evening begins with Robert Thornton playing Justin Pipe here for the second year in a row. Last year they met in the first round and Thornton won 2-0 and he’ll be hoping to repeat that result here.
I have to say Thornton was very impressive in beating Daryl Gurney in the first round. He didn’t miss much at all be it the beginning of the leg or the end of it and he scored very well too.
Pipe was less impressive. In fact he should really have lost in the first round but Steve Beaton was incredibly nervous and messed up a couple of golden chances to win big legs and in the end Pipe was able to get over the line but he needs a huge improvement on that to go any further.
Thornton leads the head to head record between these two 8-4 which shows he can put up with the more sedate pace that Pipe provides and given that he looked in much better nick in the first round I’ll take the Scot to win with plenty in hand.
Game two was meant to be James Wade vs Simon Whitlock but Mensur Suljovic had other ideas and it is the quirky Austrian who will face the Australian instead.
It has to be said Suljovic was quite brilliant in dismissing Wade. He took a set to get going but when he did he won six legs in a row with some excellent starting, some power scoring and some superb checkouts. If he repeats that he’ll be tough to stop.
Simon Whitlock took advantage of a poor Andrew Gilding in the first round and that will do wonders for his confidence because it has been a tough 18 months for the Australian in the big events.
I think this match is on Suljovic. If he plays to the level that he did against Wade on Monday night he will go very close here. We know he can make it to the latter stages of big events. He was a quarter finalist in the UK Open and the World Matchplay earlier in the year and for me he’s the value in this one.
Phil Taylor was slated to play in match three but Vincent van der Voort saw to that and it is he who will face Terry Jenkins. The tall Dutchman has the age old problem ahead of this match of backing up a win over Taylor in the next match.
It is inevitable there will be an emotional comedown he needs to experience and that might be his biggest challenge because I don’t think beating Taylor gets the media publicity it used to anymore. Even so van der Voort needs to be at his best here.
It took Terry Jenkins a while to find his range in the first round against Mervyn King but when he found it he looked good. With the format extending now I think Jenkins will slip into his work a lot quicker and as good as van der Voort was against Taylor I can’t pass up the 4/5 on The Bull here.
Rounding off the night is the world champion Gary Anderson. He takes on my pre-tournament pick Ian White for a place in the quarter final. Anderson is priced as a very warm favourite but that is unfair on Ian White who can take care of anyone on his day.
To be fair to the Scot he was pretty ruthless and in excellent touch against John Henderson in the first round and if he doubles in and out like that again he’ll be tough to beat but I expect White to play much better here than in the first round because he was playing his best friend and that is never easy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if White causes a shock here but with me on him outright I’ll let that one play out its natural course in the hope that the outright punt is still running come the end.
Back R.Thornton (-1.5 sets) to beat J.Pipe for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
Back M.Suljovic to beat S.Whitlock for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Ladbrokes
Back T.Jenkins to beat V.van der Voort for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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