World Grand Prix Sunday Darts Preview

If you are having an outright bet on the 2021 World Grand Prix James Punt’s preview is available here. The tournament gets underway on Sunday evening and there are a few interesting match ups. Check out James’ World Grand Prix Sunday preview and tips below.

Martijn Kleermaker vs. Merv King

Their H2H record shows two wins for Merv King, both 6-3, one this year and one in 2020. King has won five of his last ten matches, Kleermaker six but neither have been impressive. In four of Kleermaker’s last five matches saw sub 90 averages and for King it is three.

Kings seasonal average is 95.4, Kleermaker 91.2 and The King is the more experienced player, has played in this event fourteen times (losing six first round matches) while Kleermaker is making his debut. That may be the difference in a match which makes very little appeal from a betting point of view.

King is the 1.67 favourite, Kleermaker 2.40. There might be a touch of value with Kleermaker, but King deserves to be favourite. No Bet.

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Luke Humphries

Dirk van Duijvenbode reached the final on debut last year. He was in good form and had a very impressive season, shooting up the rankings and is now the World no. 21. This season started well with three PC quarter finals before winning PC11 in April and was runner up in PC12. There was another quarter final in PC13 and a semi-final in PC16 in mid-June.

Since then, Dirk has fallen off a cliff form wise. He has won just four of his last 15 matches and one of his last ten. That was a 4-3 win against Larith Lim in the World Cup when he averaged just 84.6. In his last ten matches his checkout rate has been 33% or below eight times.

Humphries Has H2H Edge

Their H2H stats show a 2-0 lead for Humphries with both matches this year, 6-2 and 7-3. Humphries has won seven of his last ten, has been a runner up four times in 2021 and was a semi-finalist in the recent Hungarian Darts Trophy. He has been better on the doubles over his last ten matches than Van Duijvenbode, hitting checkouts at 33% or better in eight of those ten.

Humphries is a debutant but he is experienced in big TV events and this is a great chance to move into the second round. Humphries is the 1.80 favourite with the out of form Van Duijvenbode and I expected his odds to be much shorter than that. Van Duijvenbode must be very low in terms of confidence and this format is not ideal for a player who is struggling .

World Grand Prix Sunday Tips: 2 points Luke Humphries to win @ 1.80 With Betvictor, Skybet, Betfair

Stephen Bunting vs. Daryl Gurney

Stephen Bunting has a 6-4 H2H record with Daryl Gurney but their last eight is 4-4 and neither player has won two in a row. Bunting won their last match, so if the pattern continues, it is Gurney’s turn to win. The last time they played was back in 2019. Gurney is 3-2 up in terms of stage matches and 1-0 in major championship matches.

Daryl Gurney has won six of his last ten matches and his scoring is improving, if still lacking in consistency, and we have seen some big ton plus averages. He realises that he can’t average 94 and remain a top 16 player and the work is going in. Hie tournament record is good, winning the title in 2017 as well as a semi-final in 2018 and quarter final in 2016.

Pressure Off Superchin

Superchin went out in the first round for the last two years, but he was defending lots of ranking prizemoney then and not in great form. It showed and he played poorly. This year he is not under that pressure, and this is a pure opportunity to gain ranking money, and one person he can move above is Stephen Bunting, so there is an edge to this match, which both will be aware of.

Bunting won PC17 in July and reached the quarter final of PC17, but since then he has played 17 and lost 9 and won just 4 of this last 10. He reached the semi-final of this event on debut in 2014 but since then he has played seven and won two.

This could go either way, Bunting’s form has dropped off a little but not of a cliff, while Gurney’s has improved, but not massively. The Bookmakers have Daryl Gurney as the 1.62 favourite and Bunting at 2.50. I do think that Gurney wins this, but the odds are too short for a bet.

Dave Chisnall vs. Mensur Suljovic

A fascinating match. The back to form Suljovic is back to something like his best. After his four-month sojourn, Mensur has played eleven and won seven. He took Austria to the final of the World Cup and was runner up in last weekend’s Gibraltar Darts Trophy. His scoring has been erratic, with five 95+ averages but five sub 90 averages, so you are not guaranteed a strong performance.

Dave Chisnall has won five of his last ten matches, and his scoring has been a bit erratic as well. He has had six 96+averages, and four sub 90’s. Chisnall has been one of the better players on the outer ring. Over the last two years he is ranked 6th for double 20, 8th for double 18 and 2nd for double 16. Suljovic isn’t miles away, but there is an advantage for Chisnall.

Both have good tournament form. Chisnall has only lost two first round matches from ten events, has been runner up twice, had two more semi-finals and a quarter final. Suljovic is a three-time semi-finalist but also lost three first round matches from six events played.

Tough To Call

It is a hard match to call. Suljovic has looked very impressive at times in his comeback matches. He was bound to be a bit rusty after such a long break, and he should be improving match by match going into the business end of the season. Chisnall has been treading water in 2021. He ended 2020 by reaching the World Championship semi-final but in 2021, he reached the quarter final in the UK Open, but nothing else of great note.

My gut feel is that Suljovic will win. He looks hungry again, enjoying playing and that makes him dangerous. Chisnall is well suited to the format and is very capable, but ultimately a bit disappointing.

Their H2H record is 6-4 to Chisnall but they have not met for over two years. The one thing that sticks out when looking at their H2H form is that there have been six of those ten matches which went to a deciding leg, and Chisnall won five of them.

Another close match with Chisnall winning? It would be no surprise. Chisnall is the 1.73 favourite with Suljovic 2.25.

World Grand Prix Sunday Tips: 1 point over 2.5 sets @ 1.91 generally available

World Grand Prix Sunday Tips: 1 point Chisnall to win 2-1 @ 3.50 with SpreadEx

Joe Cullen vs. Ross Smith

It is hard to place Cullen’s form right now. He has won five of his last ten matches and is playing better than when his form slumped in July. Last month he played in both the Euro Tour events, winning three form five. His best performance was when he lost 4-6 to Nathan Aspinall but averaged 104 in a very high-quality match. His 180 hitting in those five Euro Tour matches was very good averaging a maximum per leg rate of 0.42. Cullen has 6-3 H2H record over Smith.

Ross Smith has also won five of his last ten matches, but he won PC19 in July, just before the summer break. He is a streaky player, and he was running hot that day. The heat has dropped off a but since and we last saw him in Hungary when he beat a local qualifier 6-0 but lost to Rob Cross in the second round. His 180 hitting rate was even better than Cullen’s at 0.56 per leg. Over the last 12 months these two are ranked 3rd  and 4th for 180’s per leg, so we may see a healthy dose of maximums in this match.

World Grand Prix Sunday Tips: 1 point over 5.50 180’s @ 2.45 with Ladbrokes

James Wade vs. Damon Heta

It is 2-2 in the H2H’s. Wade has won six of his last ten matches, Heta five. Heta is making his tournament debut while Wade is a two-time tournament winner but has only won one match in the last six years.

Heta is a slightly better scorer than Wade, but Wade is better on the doubles and that is more important here than in a normal tournament. There isn’t much between them in either department and this is not an easy match to call. Wade has all the experience in the world, but his recent record is terrible. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps it is the weight of expectation. This the tournament which should suit Wade, that he should do well in and one where he has won twice. He may be putting too much pressure on himself.

Heta has been a bit inconsistent of late. He was runner up in PC21 but since then the win rate has been ordinary. However, he has faced Gerwyn Price three times in his last twelve matches and Jonny Clayton once, so he has had his fair share of tough gigs.

Wade is the 1.67 favourite and Heta a 2.38 shot. Heta has been expensive to follow this year and he might be a little overrated, but he has the game to beat anyone and he looks the better value in what should be a tight match.

World Grand Prix Sunday Tips: 1 point Damon Heta to win @ 2.38 with Hills, Betvictor

Gerwyn Price vs. Michael Smith

World number1 and defending champion, Gerwyn Price, is bang in form with back to back Euro Tour titles and nine wins from his last ten. Michael Smith has won six of his last ten and he’s not in bad form, but not in the same league has Price. Their H2H record is 14-13 to Smith but more importantly their last ten has seen just one win for Smith and it is over two years since he last beat The Iceman.

Smith has a very poor tournament record. He has played ten matches and won just two first round matches, never getting beyond the second round. He did beat Price in this, but that was back in 2015 and Price won their other match in this in 2017.

Price is a much better player than he was in 2015 and much better than the 2017 model. Smith has stayed at about the same level, frustrated and underachieving.

Gerwyn Price is the 1.44 favourite, Smith 3.25. Price really should win but it is hard to find any angle in this match with any value in it. No bet.

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Ryan Searle

Ryan Searle is one of the form players coming into the event, winning eight of his last ten matches (12 of his last 14). He lost on debut last year but at least he got a taste of what the tournament is all about.

Dimitri van den Bergh has played three matches in this tournament and won one, so he hasn’t any great experience advantage over Searle. Van den Bergh has won six of his last ten. H2H wise it is 4-2 to Searle but Dimitri won their only 2021 match 6-1 back in April.

Van den Bergh can consider himself a bit unlucky to have won just the one match in this. He averaged 104 against Van Duijvenbode in the last year’s second round and lost. He averaged 103.6 when beating Michael Smith in the first round and ton plus averages in this format are that much better than in the normal format. Searle went down 1-2 to Danny Noppert in round one last year, averaging 93.

Nothing In It

This is another match that is hard to call. Searle is winning a lot of matches and won PC22 two months ago. He got pretty lucky with the draw but his scoring was excellent, including a 116 average when winning his semi-final 7-0. He was disappointing last weekend when losing 3-6 to Ratajski in the second round, averaging just 90.

If Searle gets his range on the treble 20, he can rack up very big numbers, but so can Dimitri. This looks to be a bit of a coin toss. And as such Searle makes some appeal at 2.88.

Dimitri’s most recent form is a worry. His averages for his last five matches are 93.6, 78, 90, 88.5 and 89.8. He was lucky to win two and if he stays around that level, Searle could humiliate him.

World Grand Prix Sunday Tips: 1 point Ryan Searle to win @ 2.88 Betfair, Skybet, Betvictor and Boylesports

-JamesPunt