2023 World Matchplay Friday Betting Tips – JP
2023 World Matchplay Friday Preview
We have the second pair of quarter finals at the Winter Gardens this evening. James Punt has another preview, get his 2023 World Matchplay Friday tips below.
Thursday Thoughts
Last night was disappointing. The Cullen vs. Gurney match was not the best spectacle with Superchin hit by the inconsistency which is holding him back. Cullen never really found top gear but a 5-0 lead at the first break was always going to be hard to close down.
That Gurney nearly did it showed how nervous Cullen was. He was only facing Gurney’s C game and it will be interesting to see if Cullen can find more gears if, and when, put under pressure. Daryl missed a dart at double 16 to land our over 27.5 legs bet and we were left stranded on 27 when Cullen checked out in his next throw to win the match 16-11.
Closer Match
The Aspinall Dobey match was better in terms of a closer match. It was 8-8 at the halfway point but Aspinall then started to establish a lead without playing his best, winning six on the bounce to knock the fight out of Dobey.
It was a nervy end for The Asp as Dobey threw in a 13 darter and an 11 darter to threaten a comeback, but Aspinall fell over the line with another 19 dart leg. That won our Asp to win bet, but Dobey to hit the most 180s was miles off. Hollywood only hit a couple in the first half of the match and while he started to find his range later in the match, it was too little too late.
The tally at the end of the night was -1.75 brining the rolling total to -4.50 points. Hopefully we can get some of that back if Jonny Clayton can overcome Ryan Searle and land the ante post bet on him to win the quarter.
Jonny Clayton vs. Ryan Searle
It is hard enough trying to predict the winners of these big matches, without the added complication of one player being under a bit of a cloud off the oche.
Jonny played very well in the second round to average 101.9 in a 11-6 thrashing of Van den Bergh. That was on the back of a 87.9 average in his 10-8 win over Gabriel Clemens in the first round. His father was ill which is what distracted him in that first round and he said that things were still not good at home, but he was able to get on with his job on Wednesday night. Tonight? Who knows, apart from the man himself.
Clayton has won eight of his last ten matches but his 22 match run of +90 averages ended in the 4th round of PC16 last Tuesday (a match he won 6-0) and he has now had two sub 90s in his last four. He still won both which goes to show that he is hard to beat even with his B game.
105 Average
Ryan Searle averaged 105 when beating RVB in the first round and a steady 95 when beating Peter Wright 11-8. It wasn’t a great match, Searle was not overly impressed by how he played, but Wright wasn’t firing so he did enough.
He is looking forward to playing Jonny as they both play at the same pace and they usually have good games. Searle has also won eight of his last ten matches, maybe not with the same level of consistency as Jonny, but he is in good form.
Their H2H record is 3-2 to Ryan Searle but they have never played a stage match. So far in their careers, Clayton has enjoyed much more success on the big stages and has much more experience. He has won seven PDC titles on stage, Searle has yet to win a stage title and only played in two major quarter finals, winning one.
Laid Back
That said, Searle doesn’t lack for big stage experience and his character is one that is fairly laid back. He is unlikely to get overly nervous. Interestingly, if he wins this he needs to find some accommodation as he only booked up to Friday.
Clayton is the 1.67 favourite with Searle 2.38. Like Clayton’s match the other night, it is difficult to get involved when one player is being influenced by matters off the oche. Hopefully Clayton’s head is in the right place and he gets the win, but I will be having no further interest in this match.
2023 World Matchplay Friday tip: No bet
Damon Heta vs. Luke Humphries
Humphries required extra time to defeat Dirk van Duijvenbode and Dirk crumbled at the business end once again. Luke was a bag of nerves himself but was able to get it over the line.
He has averaged 98.5 across his two matches, compared to 95 for Heta. Humphries has won nine of his last ten matches and lost just two of his last seventeen.
Damo beat Brendo 11-1 in the second round when Dolan had an absolute mare on the outer ring. His checkout rate was 6.7% as he missed 14 doubles. He certainly didn’t expend any mental energy on that match. He has won nine of his last ten matches and indeed lost just two of his last twenty one. That is excellent form.
Form Players
The two form players of the tournament go H2H for the fourth time and it is Humphries who has won their last three. All three have been in 2023 with Humphries beating Heta in two Euro Tour semi-finals, 7-3 and 7-5, and in the UK Open 10-9.
Two great players, in great form but one has gotten the better of the other in their previous recent matches. I would expect a close match in which hopefully Humphries can prevail once again, but like his match with Dirk, it is a very tough draw.
That said, it is tough for Heta as well. Continuing to wind up the crowd with his Ashes ‘banter’ is taking a risk in my opinion. He is a popular guy, so why try and wind the crowd up?
Humphries is Fav
Humphries is the 1.53 favourite and Heta the 2.63. Yes, Humphries has to be the favourite given their H2H form this year but I think it is closer than the odds suggest. Big enough to hedge? Not quite, I’ll keep the faith in Cool Hand for now.
It is hard to see either player getting things their own way and we should see something closer than the two matches last night.
