Quarters clashes between PDC stars makes for super Friday and Saturday
There are some stunning weekend clashes in our 2016 Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals preview, including Gary Anderson v Raymond van Barneveld and Peter Wright v Phil Taylor, as this cracking competition gets down to the business end.
The final eight, including Michael van Gerwen and James Wade, are all PDC players with the last BDO stars falling on Thursday evening. But there’s plenty to look forward to as outsiders Chris Dobey and Brendan Dolan attempt to cause arrow upsets.
So, read on as we round-up the oche action to come, including Anderson v Barney odds and Wright v Taylor bets…
Friday
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Friday night’s first fixture sees Mighty Mike and The History Maker meet for the second time this tournament, after their earlier bout in the group stage.
After defeating Dolan (match outsider at 11/1) emphatically 5-1 then, MvG extended his head-to-head record against the Northern Irishman to 15 to three and is a heavily odds-on at 1/33 to scalp his opponent again. Punters can find more value on the deadly Dutchman at 11/8 in the handicap market to win by over 10 legs (-10.5).
If you fancy Mighty Mike to dominate his latest darts duel, a 16-5 scoreline in his favour is a fine 13/2 to occur.
Considering how ruthless Van Gerwen has been so far, the reigning champ is also available at a handicap of -4.5 to score most maximums at 10/11 and, as joint highest four tournament checkout so far, is 5/6 clock out at over 131.5.
Peter Wright v Phil Taylor
Wright and Taylor usually provide show-stopping scuffles whenever they meet, so expect this quarters clash to be no different, as they have won two apiece from their past four frays.
Snakebite looks tasty at 7/4 to make it through to the semis, after overcoming a huge mental barrier by beating pipping the power to the final of the recent World Series of Darts Finals. There was a one-leg winning margin in their previous wrangle and Wright is 12/1 to be victorious by a 16-15 result in Wolverhampton.
Taylor, meanwhile, is odds-on at 4/9 to gain his revenge for his last ousting on the oche and extend his 18-seven winning record against the Scot.
Saturday
Chris Dobey v James Wade
Dobey (3/1 for another shock win) has been in deadly form to reach the quarters, as he surprised to finish second in Group H ahead of Scott Mitchell and Adrian Lewis, but now his run should come to an end against Wade (odds-on 1/4 favourite).
While Dobey’s 5-3 defeat of an off-colour Jackpot was impressive, The Machine is a different prospect all together and could prove a prudent punt at 7/2 to be King of the Oche (player to win match, most 180s and highest checkout. If any of the markets are tied, bets will be settled as losers).
Gary Anderson v Raymond van Barneveld
In Saturday’s showpiece and last tussle of the evening, Anderson and Van Barneveld battle having edged their respective BDO opponents Danny Noppert and Glen Durrant in the second round.
Both made harder work than needed of their previous match-ups, but The Flying Scotsman has emerged victorious from all his last nine in a row against Barney so is odds-on a 2/5 to triumph and 4/6 for highest checkout. Though, there is value in 180 handicap market for Anderson to score over 1.5 more maximums than his Dutch opponent at 6/4 (-1.5).
This duel should really get fans going, and Barney is up for grabs to back a 2/1 to see of the Scotsman.
