Players Championship Quarter Finals

Our main ante-post fancy Jonny Clayton is still alive, let’s hope he can go all the way. Today’s action sees the last 8 fight it out for the last big trophy before the Worlds, check out James Punt’s Players Championship Quarter Finals previews and tips below.

Jose De Sousa vs. Brendan Dolan

Is it the cold? This may be the lowest scoring major championship I can remember. We have become used to these top players banging in ton plus averages for fun but so far this weekend we have seen ten ton plus averages from fifty-six matches. Michael van Gerwen has been very critical, as was Gerwyn Price, that it is too cold to be able to play properly.

Heavy hitting De Sousa is averaging 93 and while his form has tailed off somewhat in recent weeks, that is significantly down on his seasonal average of 97.8. Brendan Dolan is averaging 92, again down of his seasonal average of 95.5.

Is the cold going to be a great leveller? Are the matches going to be decided more on who can close out a leg efficiently, than those who are the heaviest scorers? It is certainly worth bearing in mind.

The H2H record shows a 2-1 lead for De Sousa but they have never played more than a first to six format. De Sousa is the 1.63 favourite and Dolan the 2.38 outsider. So far, what we have seen from the two players suggest that this more of coin toss. Both are scoring in much the same ballpark, De Sousa is hitting more 180s which is to be expected, but Dolan has checked out at 44% to De Sousa’s 36%.

If the cold conditions are blunting the players scoring abilities, will that affect De Sousa a little more? His game, his success, is based on heavy scoring while Dolan is a grinder. I’ll go with the conditions favouring the grinder and hope they haven’t fixed the central heating.

Players Championship Quarter Finals Tip: 1 point Brendan Dolan to win @ 2.38 with Boylesports, Betfair Betvictor

Daryl Gurney vs. Ryan Searle

If you get a slice of good luck, make the most of it, and Daryl Gurney certainly did. He was getting outplayed by Michael Smith in the second round, but Smith did what Smith does and had a meltdown on the doubles, missed ten match darts and Superchin said thanks very much. He took that win and backed it up with a fine performance to beat James Wade in the third round.

Gurney averaged 104, the third highest of the tournament and with Wade averaging 100, it was a proper game. It was also played in Reds bar, the smaller of the two stages where Gurney has played all three of his matches, he is now up on the big, cold stage, but also the stage where he played his greatest match, beating MVG to win this tournament in 2018. As positive mental associations go, that is a good one.

Searle Doubles Struggles

Ryan Searle somehow got through his first two round despite playing poorly and his doubling has been poor, checking out at 27.7%. You should not be in a quarter final of any tournament with that checkout rate. A bit like De Sousa, Searle relies on heavy scoring for his success and if the conditions are not conducive to high scoring, you are going to need your doubling to be as sharp as possible. Gurney’s tournament checkout rate is 43.6% and it was 62.5% last night.

Ryan Searle is the 1.75 favourite with Gurney at 2.10. Both players have had some good fortune to get here now they have to make the most of it. Superchin has a good record in major quarter finals having played 15 and won 10. Ryan Searle has played one and lost one.

Players Championship Quarter Finals Tip: 1 point Daryl Gurney to win @ 2.10 generally available

Peter Wright vs. Michael van Gerwen

Wright used to be a bit of a whipping boy for MVG, certainly in big matches, and their H2H record is 64-22 with two draws. More recently however, starting with that 2020 World Championship final win, it is 5-5.

Both players are averaging 95.6 but MVG has been very consistent in his performances and very good on the doubles, checking out at 58%. Wright has slowly been getting worse but is checking out at 45% and hitting more 180’s than MVG but both are not hitting many.

For once, the fact that Perter Wright has about 30 sets of darts in his luggage might help. A heavier dart is a good idea if you have a draught blowing across the stage so he might be able to adapt to the conditions better than MVG, who is clearly not happy with them.

MVG is the 1.53 favourite with Wright at 2.75. It is a hard match to call. I haven’t been impressed Peter Wright in the last few weeks, but he has reached a final and now another quarter final. MVG is a player who is telling everyone that he is the best but probably doesn’t believe it and he needs titles to back it up. He is under more pressure. He has won six players championships here, only ever lost six matches from fifty-one played and never lost a quarter final from seven played.

The only bet I can see here is unders on the 180’s. Both are hitting very few and again the conditions may be to blame.

Players Championship Quarter Finals Tip: 1 point under 9.5 180’s @ 1.80 with Betfred

Jonny Clayton vs. Vincent van der Voort

The Ferret has hardly been imperious so far, but he has had enough bottle to get the job done. Hopefully he can relax a bit now and let it flow, but again, are the conditions holding him back? He has actually improved match by match, but we haven’t seen the best of him, but we haven’t seen the best of anyone outside of Meikle and Duijvenbode and where are they?

Their H2H record is 5-4 to Clayton, which is a surprise, but Clayton has dominated in more recent years, winning four of their last five, all from 2019 onwards. They have met three times in 2021 and Clayton has won them all, 7-5, 6-3 and 6-1.

A Step Too Far For Big Vinny?

Vincent van der Voort will be getting a nosebleed having reached so far in a major. In his long career Vincent has reached just four major quarter finals and lost the lot. He played well last night to beat Danny Noppert, averaging 98.5 with a checkout rate of 52.6%. More of that and he will give Clayton more grief.

Clayton is the 1.27 favourite and Vincent the 4.33 outsider. It would be hard to back Jonny at those odds given how he has played and how weird the tournament has been. We are on him to win the tournament and hopefully he can justify favouritism, show us some proper Ferreting and move on to the semi-final.

I shall be taking the evening off so no more coverage of the semi-finals and final. Hopefully Clayton can do the business but this has been a bit of a crazy tournament so who knows?

-JamesPunt