2024 World Grand Prix Saturday Preview

We are now into the boring part of the tournament, betting wise at least. We drew a blank last night, but at least Luke Humphries is still leading the charge. He goes again tonight against Ryan Joyce, but first up is Van den Bergh vs. De Decker. The format for these matches is best of nine sets, and not best of seven, as it has been in the past. Our 2024 World Grand Prix Saturday match previews are below.

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Mike de Decker

An all Belgian semi-final. Is Belgium the new Netherlands? Where have all the Dutch players gone? All out in the first round is where they went.

Van Den Bergh’s game was in very poor shape coming into this event and he looked a stick on for an early exit, but here he is, in the semi-final. He was brilliant in the first round, beating Luke Woodhouse 2-1 in a top notch match.

Since then, not so good, but not bad. He saw off Dave Chisnall 3-1 in round two and beat Joe Cullen 3-1 last night. Cullen came into this in nearly as bad form as Van den Bergh, and he was the first to revert to type.

De Decker On The Up

Mike de Decker seems to finally be realising his potential. He is now a tournament winner and is in his first Major semi-final. He beat Damon Heta 2-1 in a tough first round match, beat, nae, thrashed, Gary Anderson 3-0 in the second round and had the same scoreline last night against James Wade.

It was a frustrating match for me, having gone for a five set match, and all three sets ended 3-2, but all for De Decker. He played very well and deserved the win, but it was closer than 3-0 suggests. He was winning a lot of legs in 15 darts and under, good stuff in a double in format.

De Decker has been the better player in my eyes and I am not surprised he is the favourite. His lack of big match experience does count against him though, Van Den Bergh has the clear advantage in that department.

Dimi Leads H2H

Their H2H record is also very much in Van den Bergh’s favour. He is 10-2 vs De Decker and has won their last nine in a row, including a 6-1 win in June. Since then, De Decker picked up his first PDC title at PC16. Will that be enough to make him think that he can finally get a win against his fellow Belgian for the first time since 2017?

Normally I wouldn’t consider backing a player with such a dreadful H2H record against their opponent, but De Decker has been the better player, and Van den Bergh’s confidence can’t be that great given how he had been playing before this week.

2024 World Grand Prix Saturday Tip: 1 point Mike de Decker to win @ 1.80 generally available

2024 World Grand Prix Saturday Tip: 0.5 point De Decker to win 5-2 @ 7.00 with Livescorebet, Fitzdares, Unibet

Luke Humphries vs. Ryan Joyce

The defending champion and World Champion vs. the doubles specialist.

Humphries has not been anywhere near his best so far. He has dropped a set in all three matches and averaged in the 90s in just one match. He hasn’t been the best player on view, but he has got the job done and he has looked in control since he came back from a seemingly losing position against Stephen Bunting in the first round. That match always looked likely to be his toughest task on the way to this semi-final.

Solid Joyce

Ryan Joyce has required a deciding set in his last two matches and he has been solid, if unspectacular. This will be only his second Major semi-final and Humphries holds the advantage in that respect. He has played in ten ranking semi-finals, winning seven, and the last five in a row. He is used to, and relishes, these big matches.

Their H2H record is 6-2 to Humphries and he has won their last six in a row. They have played in one TV match and that was Ryan Joyce’s only Major semi-final at last year’s Players Championship finals. That was a very one sided affair, with Humphries winning 11-3.

Needless to say that Humphries is the massive favourite at just 1.18, with Joyce at 5.50. Those odds do not reflect how the two have played so far, there is no doubt that Humphries should be a strong favourite but Joyce is no mug and I suspect he will be quite relaxed as the rank outsider. He has moved himself up to 32nd in the PDC OOM and that is job done. Anything else is a bonus.

This is not really a betting match and it would appear to be about the margin of victory for Humphries. I expect Joyce to get something from the game.

2024 World Grand Prix Saturday Tip: 0.5 point Luke Humphries to win 5-2 @ 5.00 with Fitzdares

-JamesPunt