We were treated to some magnificent darts in Blackpool last night. What made it even sweeter was the fact that all three of our bets were winners. De Sousa and Smith served up a classic and our over 18.5 legs (2.00) and over 12.5 180s (2.00) wagers were landed with room to spare. Peter Wright also proved too good for Joe Cullen. Snakebite won 11-5, easily covering the 2.5 leg handicap at odds of 2.05. James Punt has now put up four winners in a row, can he bash the bookies again tonight? Check out his PDC World Matchplay Thursday tips below.

Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Callan Rydz

Into the quarter finals and much longer matches. The quarters are first to sixteen but matches still need to be won by two clear legs, with a maximum of six additional legs before the match goes to sudden death.

Ratajski is the big favourite here and it is not hard to see why. Rydz’ tournament average is 87.2, Ratajski’s 100.7. Both have been good on the doubles, 49% for Ratajski and 48% for Rydz. There is only so far Rydz can get with low scoring and this is probably it.

Ratajski easily beat the in-form Brendan Dolan in the first round and an equally good Luke Humphries in the second. Both were very convincing performances, and The Polish Eagle looks up for this. Rydz on the other hand made a bit of a meal of beating the rank out of form Glen Durrant in the first round and took advantage of Rob Cross missing crucial doubles in the second. He was outscored by both his opponents and to be honest, he is lucky to get this far.

First Meeting

Their H2H record is non-existent. They have never played before which highlights Rydz lack of experience at the top level. That said, Rydz is the only unseeded player left in the tournament and reaching the quarter final and picking up £25000 will do him and his ranking a power of good. He is not under any pressure while Ratajski is striving to win his first major title.

Clearly Rydz needs to find his A game if he is to compete and it was his A game that won him PC 2 back in February, beating Ian White in the quarter final, Nathan Aspinall in the semi and Jonny Clayton in the final. He has beaten MVG, Daryl Gurney and Gerwyn Price but generally he has struggled against top 16 players. There is also the long format to consider. Rydz has played three first to 10 matches, winning two but without averaging more than 87 in any, and one first to 11, beating Cross on Tuesday.

Ratajski Experience Edge

Ratajski has more experience of playing long matches on the big stages which should help. Inevitably these long matches have ebbs and flows and learning not to panic if you lose three or four legs in a row is crucial. Even just being able to remain fully focused on a hot, noisy stage for the best part of an hour comes with more experience.

What makes my mind up is that Rydz recent scoring averages have been poor. He has won six of his last ten matches but six were sub 90 averages and only two over 95. Ratajski’s has won seven of his last ten, five with ton plus averages and a low of 93. He is playing the better darts, much more consistently.

Ratajski is the 1.36 favourite with Rydz a 3.60 shot. It does seem likely that Ratajski will win so long as he doesn’t get tight at the prospect of his first PDC major semi-final. He has lost four quarter finals so it may be on his mind. However, his game has been significantly better than Rydz’ recently and it is the youngster who needs to up his game by some margin.

Looking at quarter final results over the last ten years, 70% have been won by a margin of more than four legs and Ratajski with a -3.5 leg handicap makes plenty of sense.

PDC World Matchplay Thursday Tip: 2 points Krzysztof Ratajski to win -3.50 legs @ 2.00 with Betvictor (1.91 Betfred)

Gerwyn Price vs. Dimitri van den Bergh

This looks a more competitive match. Both players are in great form Price winning eight of his last ten, Van den Bergh seven, Price’s seasonal average is 99.2, Van den Bergh 97.8 while Price has a better win rate of 78% to Van den Bergh’s 63%. Their tournament averages are 99.4 for Van den Bergh, 98.7 for Price. Price is checking out at 50%, Dimitri 44% while Van den Bergh tops the 180’s hit table with 20, Price just 7.

Their H2H record shows Price leading 8-3, with their last match also being a quarter final, at the 2020 UK Open which Price won 10-5. Overall leg scores are 62-38 to Price.

Heavy Hitters

Price wins more matches has won more majors has a good H2H record over Dimitri, but the young Belgian is a real threat and still improving. He hit no less than 14 maximums when beating Dave Chisnall in the second round and while doubles win matches, heavy scoring like that creates chances and puts pressure on your opponent. Price is a heavy scorer himself so this could be a real slug fest of power scoring.

Van den Bergh tops the 180’s per leg table for 2021, with Price in 8th place. Between the two of them we should expect around 0.7 maximums per leg but it is the number of legs which is the harder to call. The bookies have 27-28 total legs expected but of course it could go all the way up to 39. Of the last 40 quarter finals 47.5% have finished either 16-11, 16-12 or 16-13. I expect a close match, both players are playing so well that it will be difficult for either to dominate, but in the end, Price’s superior win rate and H2H record suggests he will land the spoils.

PDC World Matchplay Thursday Tip: 1 point over 18.5 180’s @ 2.10 with Skybet

PDC World Matchplay Thursday Tip: 1 point over 28.5 legs @ 2.50 with Skybet

World Matchplay Thursday Tip: 0.5 point Gerwyn Price to win 16-13 @ 11.00 generally available

James Punt