Wednesday Night Grand Slam of Darts Tips – JP
Wednesday Night Grand Slam of Darts Preview
James Punt returned to form with a bang last night. He advised five winners from seven picks, let’s hope for more of the same tonight. Check out James Punt’s Wednesday night Grand Slam of Darts preview below.
Raymond van Barneveld vs. Simon Whitlock
I dare say not many people had this line up pencilled into a possible second round clash. Barney is on a great run of results, winning nine of his last ten matches and he won’t have been feeling this confident for a long time. He hasn’t been scoring huge averages and his 100.08 against Price is his highest since a match back in June, but he has been doing the right things at the right times and has been solid on the outer ring most of the time.
Simon Whitlock should play injured more often. His foot is giving him gip but it didn’t stop him averaging 98 across his three group matches. He did lose to Danny Noppert, but he didn’t face too much opposition from Suljovic or Perez. He got a good draw and made the most of it.
Inconsistency
The Wizard has won six of his last ten matches and his whole season has been one marked by inconsistency and 36% of his last 50 matches have seen sub 90 averages. That is going to catch him out at some stage. He has played in five second round matches in the Grand Slam and won four, Barney has played nine and won five.
Their H2H record is extensive, and Barney leads 18-16. They have met twice in 2022 and it is 1 win apiece. The market is making Simon Whitlock the marginal favourite at 1.85 to Barney’s 2.00 and it does look hard to separate them, but given Barney’s recent solid form, I would reverse the odds and make him the marginal favourite.
Wednesday night Grand Slam of Darts Tip: 1 point Raymond van Barneveld to win @ 2.00 with Hills, Betfair, Betvictor, BET365
Michael Smith vs. Rob Cross
Cross kept his 100% record of qualifying for the knockout stage of the Grand Slam by coming from 0-3 down to beat Martin Schindler 5-4 in the final group match. He averaged 100 in his first group match vs, Gawlas but he was poor when losing to Van Duijvenbode and far from good when beating Schindler. He has won seven of his last ten matches but has lost three of his five Grand Slam second round matches.
Smith finally kicked off in his final group match, beating Edhouse 5-1 and averaging 102, despite hitting just one 180. He has improved match by match and has won seven of his last ten, hitting four ton plus averages. Smith has played seven second round matches in the Grand Slam and won five of them.
Cross Dominant H2H
Their H2H record is quite surprising. It is Rob Cross who leads 17-5. On TV it is 10-4. They have not met in 2022 and the only consolation for Smith is that in their last four matches it is 2-2.
Smith is the 1.65 favourite which flies in the face of that H2H record. Has Cross got a mental hold on Smith? Smith is playing better darts, but it is a mental game at this level and Smith is a very fragile player mentally. I would have made Smith the favourite but that H2H record has put paid to any betting interest in this match for me. No bet.
Wednesday night Grand Slam of Darts Tip: No Bet
Gerwyn Price vs. Danny Noppert
Noppert won all three of his group matches but he was far from convincing in two of them. He required deciding legs in his games with Christian Perez and Mensur Suljovic. That suggests he will find coping with Price a challenge. Noppert has won six of his last ten matches and he is lacking the kind of consistency required to win the tournament. His record against Price is 3-6 and on TV, 1-4. They have met three times in 2022 and Price has won all three.
Gerwyn Price has been the best player in the tournament so far, averaging 103.33 and averaging over a ton in all three of his group matches. That still wasn’t enough to beat Raymond van Barneveld and he survived a match dart against Dave Chisnall. That was a bullet dodged and the kind of a break you need to win tournaments.
Longer Format
These second-round matches are best of 19 legs and should allow the better players to triumph. There isn’t too between these two in terms of scoring, but Price is more accomplished in winning majors, especially this one.
If Noppert plays his best, he could win but this is a special tournament for Price, and he has played five second round matches winning three. Clearly the group phase and the second round is where he has been vulnerable but he has never lost a match once he has gone beyond this stage.
Price Odds On
Price is the 1.44 favourite with Noppert 3.00. Given their H2H record in 2022 and the fact that Price has a dominant record in majors, the odds are hard to argue with. They have played three long format matches and Price has won two, none of the three were particularly close with Noppert’s 10-7 win in the 2020 World Matchplay being the closest.
It is not a match where value is easy to find. Historically Price has underperformed at the second-round stage in terms of scoring. He has never hit a ton plus average in this round and only once more than 94, but he has averaged a ton plus in his last five matches at this venue and his grip on this event seems to be tightening.
Wednesday night Grand Slam of Darts Tip: 1 point Gerwyn Price to win -2.5 legs @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Joe Cullen
Dirk has had to work hard to get this far, winning two group matches in deciding legs and the other 5-3. He is scoring well but hasn’t been able to dominate his opponents. He has won six of his last ten matches and has a 6-2 H2H record over Cullen. Most of their H2H form is old and in their two matches in 2022 it is 1-1, both 6-3 results. They have never met on TV and never played a longer than a best of 11 leg match.
Joe Cullen has also won six of his last ten matches, but his scoring isn’t quite at Dirk’s level. He lost 5-10 the Michael Smith at this stage last year.
Dirk The Fav
There isn’t a lot to go on here. The H2H form suggests Dirk has the edge and he is the 1.65 favourite. Cullen is one of those players who can seem like he is not in great form but suddenly find a big performance. He is a dangerous opponent, very experienced, but he hasn’t really performed at his best in the ranking majors. He won the non-ranking Masters and was runner up in the non-ranking Premier League, but hasn’t made much impression in the ranking events. Dirk looks much more likely to pick up a major title than Cullen.
The match odds look about right and offer no value, but I will take a chance on the blindingly obvious. Dirk to hit the most 180s. Over the last 12 months his 180 per leg record is 37% compared to 30% for Cullen. In this event he is hitting 180s at a rate of 34%, Cullen 20% and in a longer format match we should see that 180 scoring record played out in Van Duijvenbode’s favour.
