The quarter finals of the World Matchplay concludes on Friday night when the two matches in the bottom half of the draw take place inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool as things begin to get very serious from here on in.
We already know we are guaranteed a new winner of this title on Sunday evening and on Friday we go a little closer to determining who that might be. Four seeded stars will be on show looking to seal their semi-final spot.
Ryan Searle vs Jonny Clayton
The opening match of the night sees a Ryan Searle who has already seen off two former world champions looking for a spot in the biggest TV semi-final of his career when he meets Jonny Clayton, who will be fancied by many to go all the way from here on in.
Searle has been excellent so far in the tournament, combining heavy scoring with decent finishing for the most part and really applying a lot of pressure to his opponents, both of whom have failed to come up with any answers. You wouldn’t think that Clayton would wilt under such pressure because he has been operating at the highest end of the sport for the past two years and won some big titles. The other thing to weigh into this quarter final is whether Searle will continue to perform to the levels he has been now that the format increases. We know from runs at the World Championship and the Grand Slam that Clayton is likely to be able to maintain his form over this distance. I certainly hope he does anyway because he is my outright bet and having taking him to four places I am effectively on him at 9/2 to win this match and that will form my interest in this one.
Special Offer
OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH 888SPORT AND BET £10 TO GET £30 IN FREE BETS PLUS A £10 CASINO BONUS! PERFECT OFFER TO USE ON THIS TOURNAMENT! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO JOIN. USE CODE 30F. NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY. 18+ T&Cs apply (See image for significant terms). Gamble Aware.
Damon Heta vs Luke Humphries
The last of the quarter finals offers up a huge opportunity for the two men involved when Damon Heta takes on the new tournament favourite Luke Humphries in what will be billed as an Ashes battle with it running alongside the cricket equivalent.
Heta has probably produced his two best TV performances in the opening two rounds of this tournament although it should be said that Brendan Dolan basically handed him their second round contest with 1/15 on the doubles and no real consistency to his scoring. It is hard to believe that Humphries will be so generous so Heta is going to need to maintain the form he has shown so far in the tournament, if not improve on it a touch. Humphries has been very impressive to date. His first nine scoring average has been over 100 on both occasions and that sort of scoring pressure can quickly make opponents wilt. He hasn’t been that bad on his doubles either and unlike Heta he is used to these deep matches. His second round game ended up needing him to win 14 legs but he has twice been a quarter finalist of the World Championship over a similar distance to this and he made the Grand Slam semi-finals last year so he knows he can maintain his form in these long matches. This is brand new territory for Heta, who also knows he has lost all three matches to Humphries this year, each of which were on a stage. I fancy the Englishman to take this and the longer the contest goes the more I see him pulling away especially if Heta is daft enough to get a drunk Friday night crowd against him.
Tips
Back L.Humphries (-2.5 legs) to beat D.Heta for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023
