The quarter finals will be decided with the last four games of the
last 16 at the Winter Gardens.
The line up includes top seeds consisting of Daryl Gurney, Rob Cross
and Peter Wright. With a last eight at stake, and a boost in prize
money, there is a case for all eight players, to either elevate their
position, or some of the bigger guns trying to defend as much as
possible as the two year rolling order of merit rubs off 2017 earnings
from the event. Remember that Peter Wright made the final two years
ago, so stands to damage limitation attempting to match or better his
position.
Punters taking on the favourites of Gurney, White, Cross and Wright
will struggle to get beyond 12/5, although Boylesports punt the front
running industry price of 13/5.
Taking on all the underdogs (Brown, Bunting, Ratajski and Whitlock
will net close to 128/1 with Unibet, if you deem a quid is worth a go.
Gurney Vs Brown - 19:15; Head to Head - Gurney leads 3-0
Double time Major Champion Daryl Gurney would love to add the
Matchplay to his growing portfolio of titles, and will need to get
past Isle of Wight's Keegan Brown, who saw off Jonny Clayton in a
narrow encounter, where the former Youth Champion won 10-8 bagging two
maximums, but took out four ton-plus finishes.
Gurney eventually got over the line himself versus Ricky Evans
10-7,where on a number of occasions Gurney was so far in front in the
leg, that some complacency on his doubles did suffer.
The match price sees Gurney at 4/9 with Boylesports and 2/1 generally
for Keegan Brown. the pair have met three times before with the most
recent encounter a comfortable 6-2 victory in a pro tour event,
Looking at the recent leg by leg sample going back to the European
Grand Prix back in May, sampling 101 legs, Keegan has averaged a
0.2475 180s per leg average. Gurney in comparison has averaged in
excess of 0.29 per leg. This is a small sample granted, but the
Irishman is 3/4 with Sportingbet to land the most maximums, Skybet
punt evens on Gurney to win the game and hit the most maximums and
also punt 11/8 for Gurney to win, net five or more maximums and
achieve a 102 or better checkout.
Bunting Vs White - 20:15; Head to Head - Bunting leads 8-5
Ian White showed off his diamond performance with a whitewash over
quietly fancied Joe Cullen by some punters. White was ruthless and
prolific making light work of the situation.White had a healthy 40%
checkout conversion as well as a 121 out and four maximums in the
process.
Stephen Bunting needed a win in the opening round and got it, but went
the distance chasing the tie against credible Gerwyn Price. Bunting
comes into the tie at 15/8 with Unibet, with Ian White at 1/2 with
Boylesports.
Bunting has the head to head edge and won their only meeting in 2019
at a European Tour event, where the Bullet reigned supreme 6-4 on that
occasion.
White will be looking to match his best performance at the Winter
Garden by making his first quarter final since 2015 and as enjoyed an
excellent 2019 campaign, especially on the European Tour having won
two titles, and going deep in several other events this year.
In contrast, Bunting has never bettered the last 16 on this stage,
having made the second round once before in 2014. Having made some
progress including a final of a European Tour event as well as a pro
tour final, a win for the Bullet will give the former BDO World
Champion some resurgence in confidence.
I do think that White is in a much better form than the bullet,
despite Bunting's recent Euro tour final. The price of 1/2 on the
Diamond is about right, and would have little hesitation backing this.
Three bookmakers however bet evens on White to win by three legs or
more, so to win this will need to avoid a tiebreak and win 11-8 or
better to secure a nice 50/50 bet.
Cross Vs Ratajski - 21:15; Head to head - Cross leads 4-2
The pair played a week ago, where Cross whitewashed his opponent
tonight and will look to go one step further from two successive last
16 appearances to make his first quarter final and bookmakers are no
bigger than 1/3 to see off Krzysztof who is a general 11/4 shot. The
Pole saw off injured Darren Webster in his opening tie with Cross
beating Chris Dobey convincingly 10-3 in contrast.
Cross is 4/6 with Skybet to win the game and net the most maximums,
with his Polish opponent unpredictable at the best of times could
upset the prices. However i feel with the experience and resilience of
Cross, if he is to be taken deep in the match has the tools to deal
with pressure.
Wright Vs Whitlock - 22:15; Head to Head - Wright leads 17-9
Wright has hit the heights of form just at the right time as he has
ranking points to defend from two years ago.
Snakebite has a streak of nineteen matches and courtesy of esteemed
colleague @CarlyFletch over the streak has averaged 100.29 with a 180
per leg ratio of 0.4.
Peter's opponent Simon Whitlock comes into the game having got over
the line against John Henderson. From the pricing and the Tendinitis
from the Wizard over the last six weeks insists it is not affecting
the throw, but threw well enough to get a rest day in. Whether or not
you factor in the 94.99 average in, Whitlock still managed two 100+
checkouts as well as six maximums.
Whitlock will need to up his game in order to pose a challenge against
a seemingly untouchable Snakebite so will require the wizardry to
provide some luck. The last ten meetings spanning back to the start of
2018 has been Whitlock win just twice, with seven defeats and one
draw.
With a Wright victory will move us one step closer to our quarter ante
post bet and is likely to see a high checkout in the match, with a
hopeful Wright victory.
Recommendations:
White -2.5 legs 1/1 general 2pts
Gurney +3,5 legs, Wright and Cross to have higher match averages -
26/25 Sportingbet 1pt
last 16 at the Winter Gardens.
The line up includes top seeds consisting of Daryl Gurney, Rob Cross
and Peter Wright. With a last eight at stake, and a boost in prize
money, there is a case for all eight players, to either elevate their
position, or some of the bigger guns trying to defend as much as
possible as the two year rolling order of merit rubs off 2017 earnings
from the event. Remember that Peter Wright made the final two years
ago, so stands to damage limitation attempting to match or better his
position.
Punters taking on the favourites of Gurney, White, Cross and Wright
will struggle to get beyond 12/5, although Boylesports punt the front
running industry price of 13/5.
Taking on all the underdogs (Brown, Bunting, Ratajski and Whitlock
will net close to 128/1 with Unibet, if you deem a quid is worth a go.
Gurney Vs Brown - 19:15; Head to Head - Gurney leads 3-0
Double time Major Champion Daryl Gurney would love to add the
Matchplay to his growing portfolio of titles, and will need to get
past Isle of Wight's Keegan Brown, who saw off Jonny Clayton in a
narrow encounter, where the former Youth Champion won 10-8 bagging two
maximums, but took out four ton-plus finishes.
Gurney eventually got over the line himself versus Ricky Evans
10-7,where on a number of occasions Gurney was so far in front in the
leg, that some complacency on his doubles did suffer.
The match price sees Gurney at 4/9 with Boylesports and 2/1 generally
for Keegan Brown. the pair have met three times before with the most
recent encounter a comfortable 6-2 victory in a pro tour event,
Looking at the recent leg by leg sample going back to the European
Grand Prix back in May, sampling 101 legs, Keegan has averaged a
0.2475 180s per leg average. Gurney in comparison has averaged in
excess of 0.29 per leg. This is a small sample granted, but the
Irishman is 3/4 with Sportingbet to land the most maximums, Skybet
punt evens on Gurney to win the game and hit the most maximums and
also punt 11/8 for Gurney to win, net five or more maximums and
achieve a 102 or better checkout.
Bunting Vs White - 20:15; Head to Head - Bunting leads 8-5
Ian White showed off his diamond performance with a whitewash over
quietly fancied Joe Cullen by some punters. White was ruthless and
prolific making light work of the situation.White had a healthy 40%
checkout conversion as well as a 121 out and four maximums in the
process.
Stephen Bunting needed a win in the opening round and got it, but went
the distance chasing the tie against credible Gerwyn Price. Bunting
comes into the tie at 15/8 with Unibet, with Ian White at 1/2 with
Boylesports.
Bunting has the head to head edge and won their only meeting in 2019
at a European Tour event, where the Bullet reigned supreme 6-4 on that
occasion.
White will be looking to match his best performance at the Winter
Garden by making his first quarter final since 2015 and as enjoyed an
excellent 2019 campaign, especially on the European Tour having won
two titles, and going deep in several other events this year.
In contrast, Bunting has never bettered the last 16 on this stage,
having made the second round once before in 2014. Having made some
progress including a final of a European Tour event as well as a pro
tour final, a win for the Bullet will give the former BDO World
Champion some resurgence in confidence.
I do think that White is in a much better form than the bullet,
despite Bunting's recent Euro tour final. The price of 1/2 on the
Diamond is about right, and would have little hesitation backing this.
Three bookmakers however bet evens on White to win by three legs or
more, so to win this will need to avoid a tiebreak and win 11-8 or
better to secure a nice 50/50 bet.
Cross Vs Ratajski - 21:15; Head to head - Cross leads 4-2
The pair played a week ago, where Cross whitewashed his opponent
tonight and will look to go one step further from two successive last
16 appearances to make his first quarter final and bookmakers are no
bigger than 1/3 to see off Krzysztof who is a general 11/4 shot. The
Pole saw off injured Darren Webster in his opening tie with Cross
beating Chris Dobey convincingly 10-3 in contrast.
Cross is 4/6 with Skybet to win the game and net the most maximums,
with his Polish opponent unpredictable at the best of times could
upset the prices. However i feel with the experience and resilience of
Cross, if he is to be taken deep in the match has the tools to deal
with pressure.
Wright Vs Whitlock - 22:15; Head to Head - Wright leads 17-9
Wright has hit the heights of form just at the right time as he has
ranking points to defend from two years ago.
Snakebite has a streak of nineteen matches and courtesy of esteemed
colleague @CarlyFletch over the streak has averaged 100.29 with a 180
per leg ratio of 0.4.
Peter's opponent Simon Whitlock comes into the game having got over
the line against John Henderson. From the pricing and the Tendinitis
from the Wizard over the last six weeks insists it is not affecting
the throw, but threw well enough to get a rest day in. Whether or not
you factor in the 94.99 average in, Whitlock still managed two 100+
checkouts as well as six maximums.
Whitlock will need to up his game in order to pose a challenge against
a seemingly untouchable Snakebite so will require the wizardry to
provide some luck. The last ten meetings spanning back to the start of
2018 has been Whitlock win just twice, with seven defeats and one
draw.
With a Wright victory will move us one step closer to our quarter ante
post bet and is likely to see a high checkout in the match, with a
hopeful Wright victory.
Recommendations:
White -2.5 legs 1/1 general 2pts
Gurney +3,5 legs, Wright and Cross to have higher match averages -
26/25 Sportingbet 1pt