2023 Friday World Grand-Prix Darts Preview – JP
2023 Friday World Grand-Prix Match Previews
Another two losers last night. Ross Smith was 2-0 up in the fourth set but lost three legs on the spin to stop the match going to the deciding leg. Wright vs. Searle was another 3-1 and despite it being a close match, Searle had nothing to offer in the fifth leg. The format makes this tournament a money pit, so tread carefully. 2023 Friday World Grand-Prix tips are below.
Gerwyn Price vs. Martin Schindler
Gerwyn Price has said he hopes that the English fans will get behind him against the German. It is true that Schindler was getting booed in his last match vs. Stepehen Bunting but it will be a hard choice for the English fans.
Cheers for a ‘sheep shagger’ or get behind a ‘bloody German’. My guess is that if Schindler is giving Price a hard time, they will get behind him, such is the dislike for Price by the casual drunk ‘fan’.
However, if Price find his A game, it shouldn’t matter. He is 11-4 against Schindler. He beat him 2-0 in last year’s Grand Prix first round, 10-8 in last year’s World Matchplay, 4-0 in last year’s World Cup and 6-1 in the 2021 Players Championship finals.
Schindler’s only TV win over Price was a 4-5 win in a 2021 Grand Slam group match.
Yet To Drop A Set
Price hasn’t dropped a set yet, but he had to work hard vs. Ratajski with each set requiring a deciding leg. Schindler dropped a set to Raymond van Barneveld and two vs. Bunting. He has shown good fighting qualities, but Price is made of sterner stuff than either of his first two opponents.
Price is the 1.27 favourite and Schindler 4.33. Price has played four Grand prix quarter finals and won the last three. Schindler has only ever played one senior PDC semi-final and lost that 4-10 to Andrew Gilding in this year’s UK Open.
Price lost his 2018 quarter final 2-3 vs. Suljovic but has won the next three, 3-1, 3-0 and 3-0.
2023 Friday World Grand-Prix tip: 2 points Gerwyn Price to win -1.5 sets @ 1.60 with Sporting Index
Michael Smith vs. Andrew Gilding
How long can Gilding last with very low averages? He averaged 74.9 in his first round win over Rob Cross and 80.2 vs. Gary Anderson. His combined score is something like the fifth lowest ever for a player who has reached a quarter final in this event. He has to be living on borrowed time.
Anderson should have thrashed him to be honest, but Gilding hung in and eventually Anderson just folded like a cheap raincoat.
Michael Smith has overcome his dire Grand Prix record and he’ll be feeling a lot better for it. It is another monkey off his back. He has dropped just three legs vs. Rydz and Dolan, and he looks in very good nick.
H2H Key
Their H2H record is important. Some players don’t seem to handle playing Gilding. He can weird opponents out. He certainly weirds me out just watching him.
They have played ten times and Smith has only won six, but he has won their last four and Gilding hasn’t beaten Smith since 2018. Smith looks like he has gotten over the weird factor.
They have only played in one TV match and Smith won that 11-9 in last year’s Matchplay. Smith will not get the pace of play he likes and they have had enough close matches to have any confidence on what kind of scoreline we will get tonight. No bet.
2023 Friday World Grand-Prix tip: No Bet
Peter Wright vs. Luke Humphries
Peter Wright is back, according to Peter Wright, and he is enjoying being the underdog. He has won seven of his last ten matches and has played to a good standard in most.
He has dropped just the one set, but Ryan Searle missed six set darts to go 2-1 against Wright and that knocked the stuffing out of him. Wright then walked the fourth and final set 3-0.
Luke Humphries didn’t shine in his 2-0 win over Daryl Gurney in the first round and was taken to a deciding leg in all three sets in his 3-0 win over Luke Woodhouse last night. The bottom line is that he hasn’t played well so far. Even adjusted for the double in format, he has only averaged 89 across the two matches.
Solid Record v Humphries
Peter Wright is 5-2 up on Humphries and interestingly, Wright is 2-0 in 2023, which has been a very poor season for Snakebite. They last met last month in PC21 and Wright won that 6-2.
Humphries is the 1.50 favourite which looks very short given that his performances so far have been underwhelming. Wright is improving, but not overly happy with how he has played so far. He has stuck with the same set of Michael van Gerwen darts for both matches so far, so maybe he has found a set he likes.
I am just about convinced that Wright can give Humphries more of a game than the odds suggest. He hasn’t looked like a 1.50 shot so far. If he finds his A game he should win, but there is room for improvement in Wright’s game too.
2023 Friday World Grand-Prix tip: 1 point Peter Wright to win +1.5 sets @ 1.80 with Boylesports
Chris Dobey vs. Joe Cullen
Dobey has been impressive so far. He isn’t fazed by the double in format, sticks to a plan and hangs in. He is also scoring well enough.
Hollywood was able to take advantage of some sloppy darts from MVG last night. Mighty Mike very nearly hit two nine darters, but far too often he failed to get in on his first throw and his checkout doubles were poor, not for the first time. Dobey was allowed to take advantage and the tournament favourite was heading home.
Cullen was up against it at times against Ross Smith. Smudger hit nine maximums, which kept him in the game, but overall Cullen was the better all round player, averaging 94.6 in the double in format.
Cullen is playing in his second quarter final, he lost 2-3 to Dave Chisnall in 2020. He is going for his second ranking major semi-final following his good run in Blackpool.
Dobey also had a good run in Blackpool, reaching the quarter final but he does have the better tournament record having reached the semi-final in 2019 and the quarter final last year.
Close Playing Stats
Their H2H record is a fairly convincing 7-3 to Cullen and on TV 2-1. Dobey won their last match 6-4 at this year’s Masters, which he went on to win. The same tournament that Cullen won the year before. They are very close on playing stats and it is hard to separate them.
The market has Dobey as the 1.85 favourite and Cullen 2.00. I wouldn’t argue with those odds. Dobey does look a bit more comfortable with the format but Cullen has tended to get the better of him. The temptation is to go for a five set match @ 2.75, but no doubt it would end 3-1. No bet.
