The semi-finals of the World Matchplay tournament take place inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Saturday evening where four men will battle it out for the two spots in Sunday’s final of the second biggest ranking event of the year.
We have four class acts still left in the tournament so we should be in for a fantastic night of darts now that the format has gone back up to the best of 33 legs. Whoever comes through here will certainly have deserved it.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Krzysztof Ratajski
The opening semi-final sees the defending champion Dimitri Van den Bergh taking on Krzysztof Ratajski who is looking to qualify for his first major televised final by winning this match. Both men look in great form so this should be a wonderful start to the evening.
Van den Bergh has looked very good in this tournament and to some looks like the winner in waiting as he bids to defend the title he won in Milton Keynes last year. Ratajski might be going under the radar though because he has also played very well dropping just 17 legs on his way to this semi-final. If the Pole wasn’t looking to step into new territory I might have backed him to win this match but even though he is looking to tread new waters I think he can keep this one close enough for the over 29.5 legs to land.
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Peter Wright vs Michael van Gerwen
The second semi-final is the headline attraction of the evening as Peter Wright takes on the former champion Michael van Gerwen in the latest instalment of the rivalry we love to see most in the PDC in the present day.
In the main, van Gerwen has had the better of this throughout their history but Wright looks to be in completely different form to his Dutch rival here. Wright was relentless against Smith in the quarter final, as he was against Cullen in the round before and you sense his confidence is sky high right now. Van Gerwen doesn’t have the same level of confidence and was extremely fortunate in the quarter final that Nathan Aspinall had a shocker of a performance against him. In that quarter final van Gerwen averaged less than 95 and missed 27 darts at a double in 25 legs. That sort of display isn’t going to cut it here. Wright thrashed van Gerwen in the last of the Super Series finals earlier in the month and I expect him to deliver another beating here.
Tips
Back D.Van den Bergh vs K.Ratajski – Over 29.5 legs for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Boylesports
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Back P.Wright to beat M.van Gerwen for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Betfair
Back him here:
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