Previewing The Darts World Grand Prix Semi-Finals

Previewing The Darts World Grand Prix Semi-Finals

Darts World Grand Prix

Glen Durrant, Dave Chisnall, Chris Dobey and Michael van Gerwen are the last four men standing in this year’s Darts World Grand Prix and all four go again in Friday’s semi-finals. As for last night’s quarters, MVG, in the hunt for his fifth Dublin title, and his opponent Mervyn King, both landed 170 checkouts in a match that eventually went the way of the Dutchman.

It nearly didn’t happen after he was given a fright by King, who dumped van Gerwen out of the UK Open earlier in the year. At one point, King was one 16 away from taking things to a fifth and final set but never got the chance to take it as the Dutchman instead took out 60 in the deciding leg of the fourth. Earlier in the week, King had overcome Dimitri Van den Bergh and James Wade and an unlikely win against Mighty Mike looked very much on the cards.

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The world champion has never successfully defended this event since beating King in the 2012 final. If he does take this year’s title, it will be his 11th title of the season, having previously scooped the Masters, Premier League, Melbourne Masters and New Zealand Masters.

How they got here

Mighty Mike will now play Chris Dobey who reached the last four at the expense of Ian White. Dobey also knocked out Gary Anderson in the previous round and took Thursday’s opening set 3-0. White missed 11 starting doubles while failing to reach a finish in any of the same legs but picked things up in the second set and drew the match level.

Roles were reversed by the next set when it was Dobey that couldn’t land his starters, 12 of them in fact. His form returned in the deciding set, which he won 3-0, thanks to a pair of big checkouts from 156 and 100.

Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall came through a tough fight with Nathan Aspinall to reach his third semi-final at the World Grand Prix. It could have been so different, however, as Chizzy spurned two match darts in the deciding leg of the third set which would have given him his second whitewash in as many days following a 3-0 thumping of Stephen Bunting, coming just 24 hours after his brilliant win over Gerwyn Price.

Then there is the three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant, who overcame Jermaine Wattimena in a hard-fought 3-2 battle. Duzza is now just one victory away from a maiden televised PDC final in his first season with the tour. He has had a strong week following his eliminations of Krzysztof Ratajski and Rob Cross in the previous rounds

Darts Betting Tips

Two games and four players are all that remains before Saturday’s climax. Unfortunately for three of those players, Michael van Gerwen is one those four which pretty much makes him the overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy in Dublin. Mighty Mike goes in Friday’s second semi match of the night.

In the first, Dave Chisnall, who has been looking like his old self this week, takes on Glen Durrant. There will be many in the crowd cheering for Chizzy, who may finally realise his career-long dream of winning an elusive televised title. The St. Helens chucker will be appearing in his fifth major final if he overcomes his opponent on Friday. However, that opponent is the former BDO man Duzza, who is looking at home on the PDC circuit.

The main threat for Chizzy in this double start tourney is that Duzza is one of the more consistent doubles chuckers on the tour so just how many finishes Chizzy can get to is questionable. This is Durrant’s second major PDC semi-final since switching and he has already taken care of Rob Cross, which suggests he has enough to make it to Saturday’s final.

Semi Final price: Dave Chisnall (EVS) V Glen Durrant (4/5)

As for semi-final number two, Michael van Gerwen takes on Chris ‘Hollywood’ Dobey in a match where the world number one is the overwhelming favourite. MVG has recorded 17 no scoring visits at the start of legs and the worst double-in record of the week with 72 misses across 42 legs. And still, he can’t be beaten.

Mighty Mike has a tournament average of 91.45 and will need to stay alert tonight as Hollywood, who has thrown well all week, seeks his first PDC title of any kind. In a match against Ian White, he successfully landed five 100+ checkouts and has also claimed the scalp of Gary Anderson, So if the nerves of appearing in his first-ever televised semi-final don’t effect him, a shock could be in the cards.

Semi Final price: Michael van Gerwen (1/6) V Chris Dobey (4/1)

Betway’s prices on the outright winners for the 2019 Darts World Grand Prix are:

  • Michael van Gerwen 4/9)
  • Glen Durrant (5/1)
  • Dave Chisnall (11/2)
  • Chris Dobey (14/1)
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World Grand Prix Reaches Semi-Finals In Dublin

The Grand Prix in Dublin has reached the semi-final stage and things are beginning to look familiar.

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Last week’s pick, Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson, is just two wins from tournament victory; the first of these must come tonight against Raymond van Barneveld.

Two-time world champion Anderson has never won here and last night made hard work of overcoming Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts, eventually closing the game out 3-1.

Anderson did reach the semi-final stage two years ago but will need to up his game against Barney, after falling behind early on last night before turning things around and winning eight of the next ten legs to book his place in the last four.

His opponent tonight again demonstrated his recent return to form dispatching countryman Benito van de Pas three sets to zero. He hasn’t dropped a set all week.

Van Gerwen en route to a third title

Unsurprisingly, another Dutchman in the shape of Michael Van Gerwen is also in the final four after beating Australian Simon Whitlock 3-1.

It wasn’t the cleanest performance from the Dutch master who is enjoying a magnificent 2016. Mighty Mike has already banked the Premier League, UK Open and World Matchplay titles this calendar year and if he wants to add the Grand Prix to this year’s honours list, he will need to go one place better than last year’s final in Dublin, his third final in the last four years, having claimed the event in both 2012 and 2014.

The semis will be completed by Dave Chisnall who beat Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney 3-1 and now plays Van Gerwen. It was an impressive performance for Chizzy who hit a 90.54 average, taking out 55% of his doubles.

Grand Prix Betting Tips

Sticking with Gary Anderson, the best price on the Scotsman can be taken at Bet365 where he is available for backing at 7/2 for the outright tournament win.

That said, his opponent Barney has shown real performance recovery recently and is yet to drop a set so far which makes his 9/1 price at both Bet365 and Betway tempting.

SkyBet’s 2/5 is the best Van Gewen’s would-be backers can hope for while Dave Chisnall is 14/1 in the same book.

The World Grand Prix semi-finals get underway tonight at 20:15 with coverage starting on Sky Sports 1 at 19:00.

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Phil Taylor Wins Inaugural Champions League Ahead Of Dublin Grand Prix

A busy week’s worth of top darts action gets underway in Dublin this Sunday as the World Grand Prix begins. All of the big names are in the hat and the first round draw was made this week, allowing us to take a look at the order of play before we call a winner.

Phil Taylor
 

Phil Taylor Wins Champions League

First, a quick note on last week’s first ever Champions League of Darts. In a sensational final, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor blew Michael Van Gerwen off the oche as the sixteen-time world champion recalled the form of his younger years.

Mighty Mike has been the best in the world for some time now, taking down tourney after tourney. However, perhaps because it was the inaugural event, Taylor was inspired to relive the glory days and (as we suggested) was too good to turn down at 5/1.

The event, live on the BBC, took place over two days at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena with Taylor and MVG meeting twice along the way. Taylor emerged victorious on both occasions, first winning 10-4 in the group-stage, then 11-5 in the final on Sunday.

In truth, Taylor, 56, had looked near-invincible all weekend; feeding off the crowd, winning all five matches and dropping only 19 legs throughout the whole event.

Taylor and MVG were seeded in the same group and as such avoided each other until Sunday’s trophy match. Instead they faced and defeated James Wade and Gary Anderson respectively i to set up the final everybody was hoping for.

Taylor set the pace, taking an early 4-1 lead, before MVG began the short-lived fight back, pulling it back to 6-3. The Power, though, responded magnificently using an 11-darter to move 7-3 up.

The break in play after ten legs did little to slow Taylor down or recharge his rival as the match sailed away in the Englishman’s favour. The Power quickly finished a 114 on double 17, sealing the title and the £100,000 winner’s cheque as well as being crowned the first ever winner of the event.

World Grand Prix: order of play in Dublin

The running order for this year’s Grand Prix was announced this week, giving us an idea as to what we can expect when the usual suspects return to the Citywest Hotel in Dublin on Sunday.

Darts Grand Prix
With Michael Van Gerwen, Phil Taylor and Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright not making their entrance until Monday, James Wade, twice a winner in the Fair City, is the first of the seeds to step up.

Defending champion Robert Thornton will be in action on the opening night as will Raymond van Barneveld and current world champion Gary Anderson. The event, live on Sky Sports 3 at 7pm, will begin with Australian Kyle Anderson looking to out throw Spaniard Cristo Reyes, which will be followed by Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts taking on Ian White.

Later in the evening, Scotland’s Thornton faces former BDO world champion Stephen Bunting before Anderson’s game with Jamie Caven prior to Barney’s match.

As for the betting, third seed Adrian Lewis is a surprisingly generous 18/1 which, with each way bets paying half of the odds for a top two finish, represents good value with Jackpot more than capable of making the final. Betway are laying 9/2 on Taylor to continue his return to form in the outright betting, while the best you can take on MVG at 5/4 at SkyBet. Personally, I’m looking at Anderson who is due a win and, at 11/2 with Betway, is a worthwhile punt.

Full order of play

Sunday October 2 – 1st round

  • Kyle Anderson v Cristo Reyes
  • Ian White v Kim Huybrechts
  • James Wade (6) v Terry Jenkins
  • Gerwyn Price v Benito van de Pas
  • Adrian Lewis (3) v Jelle Klaasen
  • Robert Thornton (7) v Stephen Bunting
  • Gary Anderson (2) v Jamie Caven
  • Mervyn King v Raymond van Barneveld

Monday October 3 – 1st round

  • Dave Chisnall v Robbie Green
  • Mick McGowan v James Wilson
  • Mensur Suljovic v Daryl Gurney
  • Michael Smith (8) v Alan Norris
  • Joe Cullen v Simon Whitlock
  • Phil Taylor (4) v Steve West
  • Michael van Gerwen (1) v Steve Beaton
  • Peter Wright (5) v Brendan Dolan

Tuesday October 4 – 2nd round

  • James Wade (6)/Terry Jenkins v Gerwyn Price/Benito van de Pas
  • Robert Thornton (7)/Stephen Bunting v Ian White/Kim Huybrechts
  • Gary Anderson (2)/Jamie Caven v Kyle Anderson/Cristo Reyes
  • Adrian Lewis (3)/Jelle Klaasen v Mervyn King/Raymond van Barneveld

Wednesday October 5 – 2nd round

  • Michael Smith (8)/Alan Norris v Joe Cullen/Simon Whitlock
  • Peter Wright (5) v Brendan Dolan v Dave Chisnall/Robbie Green
  • Phil Taylor (4)/Steve West v Mensur Suljovic/Daryl Gurney
  • Michael van Gerwen (1)/Steve Beaton v Mick McGowan v James Wilson

Thursday October 6

  • Quarter-Finals x 4 (TBA)

Friday October 7

  • Semi-Finals x 2 (TBA)

Saturday October 8

  • Final
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