Phil Taylor and James Wade aim for quarter finals

The second set of round two matches at the Grand Slam of Darts take place on Thursday night in Wolverhampton with quarter final places up for grabs. With three former world champions stepping up to the oche there is sure to be plenty of quality on show and after Wednesday nights entertainment, including a shock defeat for Raymond van Barneveld at the hands of young Keegan Brown, darts fans are going to be in for a treat.

Perhaps the pick of the matches is the contest between Phil Taylor and Peter Wright. The Power looked in fantastic form in the group stages, winning all three of his matches and dropping a miserly 4 legs on his way to the top of the group. During the group stages, Taylor delivered a Grand Slam of Darts record average of 114 in his commanding display against Christian kist and is priced at 2/9 with betfred to move through to the quarter-finals. However, Peter Wright will have other ideas and `Snakebite`, as he is known, came through a tough group in second place, having defeated Brendan Dolan and Simon Whitlock. Wright is available at 7/2 with bet365 to defeat Taylor and this may not be as out of the question as some might suggest. Wright has a good recent record against Taylor, defeating him twice and also claiming a draw in their last three matches.

Another cracking match is in prospect with the in form Mervyn King coming up against Scotland`s Gary Anderson. King showed great determination and nerve to claim three wins out of three in his group, all coming by way of a deciding leg at the end of the match. All three matches were against quality players but the two stand out victories came against Tony O`Shea and James Wade and King also reached the final of The Masters last week, which underlines his good form. King can be backed at 12/5 with SkyBet to continue this good run and defeat Garry Anderson, who is available at 1/3 with the same firm. At these odds and with King looking strong, it`s tempting to go against the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts finalist, Anderson, who came runner up in his group to Stephen Bunting.

It`s Bunting, who by winning his group, now faces James Wade in the second round. Both of these players are in good form and Wade will be looking to claim back-to-back titles having won The Masters last week, defeating Mervyn King in the final and also recording impressive victories over Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor. James Wade can be backed at 17/20 with boylesports to win and progress to the quarter-finals. Stephen Bunting is making his first appearance at the Grand Slam of Darts and has certainly made an impact, defeating the likes of Garry Anderson and Dean Winstanley in the group stages. Bunting`s scoring ability could cause Wade some problems in this match and he is available at Evens with bet365 to make it in to the quarter-finals.

The final match features Michael Smith, who topped a very tough group with a 100% record, defeating quality players such as world number 4 Peter Wright and world number 6 Simon Whitlock. Smith is available at 2/5 with BetVictor to defeat Christian Kist, who impressed against Andy Hamilton is his first group game but suffered a confidence denting 5-1 defeat at the hands of Phil Taylor. Kist will need to be at his very best if he is to knock Smith out of the tournament and is 9/4 with stanjames to do just that.

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13/11/2014     © Frixo 2024