Never let it be said that perseverance doesn’t pay off as finally, on quarter-finals night, I picked all four winners at the Grand Prix and feel a bit better about myself after backing a hat full of losers so far in the week. Admittedly two of the four were all but nailed on, but the other half were second favourites with the bookies and have done incredibly well to reach this stage of the competition.
First up Brendan Dolan showed nerves of steel to come back from a whitewash in the opening set of the night against John Henderson to win 4-1, and as that was in his first major quarter-final, he will now make his debut in a semi-final. The Northern Irishman has actually come through the tournament relatively unscathed so far, winning every one of his matches by more than one set, and with prize money of at least £20,000 guaranteed he is going to be sitting pretty in the world’s top 32 when the dust has settled after the tournament. Unfortunately for former world champ Jelle Klaasen, that means he will be dropping out of the select band of players.
James Wade in comparison to Dolan has not had a comfortable run in the competition at all, and Friday night was no exception as Andy Smith gave him a real fight but Wade eventually prevailed 4-2. It was fine margins that saw the Machine claim the victory, and his 50% on the starting doubles compared to Smith’s 41% certainly made a difference, and despite being 16 years Smith’s junior, Wade’s superior big match experience saw him through. The Pie Man will still be delighted with his performance this week and if he can keep up this form then he will be a real test for anyone in the World Championships.
Although a heavy favourite going into the contest, the manner of Phil Taylor’s 4-0 win over Mark Webster was still absolutely stunning. After his troubles over the last 12 months, the Power is coming back to near his best and was absolutely unstoppable against the Welshman. An average of 101 would win you 99% of matches in a normal match, but in a double-in contest it is unbeatable and it’s a testament to the man that he is still raising the bar as far as performances go. 60% on starting doubles and 52% on finishing, these are stats that no one can live with, as was proved as Webster put in a very decent display, but only picked up three legs. The Power is fully charged!!
Finally the incredible story of Richie Burnett continued with another nerveless display to beat Mark Hylton 4-1. Yes he has been at this level before, but not for a very long time and to come out in a major quarter-final after all the troubles he has had and hit 14 out of 23 finishing doubles is quite amazing. That is where the difference lay in what was a really tight game, but Burnett’s 61% on finishing absolutely dwarfed Hylton’s of 18%, and that is what cost Mile High a place in the semi-finals.
Semi Final Time
Unfortunately I’ve got no well kept secrets or pearls of wisdom that might suggest the two semi-finals are going to end in any other way than the one we all expect. The bookies have the pair of Taylor and Wade to win at 2/9 and that reflects how heavily they are expected to win. If you add Taylor and Wade’s world rankings together you get four, if you combine Dolan’s and Burnett’s you come to 77 and that demonstrates the gulf in success over recent times.
Without seeming too dismissive, I’m just looking forward to what should be another cracking Wade v Taylor final on Sunday night.
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