Thursday night gave us the semi-final from the top half of the draw in the World Matchplay and on Friday night we will get the last four line up finalised as the last two quarter finals take place in Blackpool.
As expected there were wins for Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen on Thursday night and they will do battle in the semi on Saturday and on Friday the likes of Dave Chisnall, James Wade and Phil Taylor will bid to join them.
Wade vs Suljovic
Many expected this quarter final to be between James Wade and Gary Anderson but Mensur Suljovic had other ideas when he took care of the world champion on Wednesday night to book his spot against a Wade who has looked very impressive so far.
Suljovic’s pace, or rather lack of it, seemed to affect Gary Anderson on Wednesday and the world champ paid the ultimate price and it could be that it has a similar effect on Wade too given that the Austrian leads their head to head 3-2. One of those Suljovic wins was at the World Championship so he knows he can beat him on TV.
I don’t think he’ll win this match though. Wade commands the respect on this stage with his record here and we’ve seen in his first two performances that he is obviously very comfortable here this year. I think this format suits him and I’m expecting him to show his class and come through. Suljovic missed a lot of doubles against Anderson but wasn’t punished. He’ll be punished here.
In terms of betting the handicap line is just about high enough to put me off but there is one bet which takes my fancy and that is Wade’s highest checkout to be over 124.5. He took out 148 and 150 in his win over Brendan Dolan in the previous round in a match which had a similar pace to what this one will have and given how reliable Wade is on doubles we should expect another mid-range checkout from him.
Taylor vs Chisnall
Wade vs Suljovic is the starter with the Taylor vs Chisnall very much the main course in this session and what a match it promises to be. Phil Taylor has scored really well throughout this tournament but his finishing has been a touch sketchy and the same can be said about Chisnall.
Taylor has cruised into this quarter final but Andy Hamilton looked to have the tools to keep their second round match close but he wilted on the doubles from 6-6 and Taylor took advantage to power away. If Taylor is to win this tournament he has to improve his doubling but Chisnall is known for missing doubles so he may not be punished here.
Chisnall has been involved in a couple of crackers so far. Jamie Caven pushed him to the limit in the first round and Keegan Brown shot clear of him in the second round but the impressive thing both times was when the pressure cranked up to its highest Chisnall’s ability came through and that will stand him in good stead here.
For all his issues on the doubles it has been noticeable that Taylor has been hitting more 180s in this tournament than we are used to so he clearly likes his current weapons. He made it quite clear he fancied the 9 dart finish against Hamilton as he was visibly gutted when he missed the D12 for it and so I expect him to go after the 180s here.
Chisnall will keep up with him in the scoring so Taylor won’t get many free legs so he’ll need to plough in the scoring throughout. He’s hit 5 180s in 12 legs and 7 in 19 legs in this tournament so far. This should have at least 26 legs so I think it is fair to think we’ll get eight from him here at least.
Back J.Wade’s Highest Checkout – Over 124.5 for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back P.Taylor Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Stan James
