Mixed Night for the Welsh
World number one Gerwyn Price booked his place in the quarter-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship with an emphatic 4-1 triumph over Dirk van Duijvenbode on Wednesday night, before watching his compatriot Jonny Clayton dumped out of the event in dramatic circumstances.
Defending champion Price recovered from losing the first set to Van Duijvenbode by winning 12 consecutive legs, cruising to success in the final four sets. Clayton followed on to the stage to face Michael Smith – and an incredible match unfolded.
The Ferret and Bully Boy traded blows in an epic contest which went 3-3. From 5-4 down in the deciding set, Clayton opened with a 180, but Smith responded superbly to wrap up a 6-4 final-set victory and win the match 4-3.
"๐'๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป'๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐"
We spoke to Michael Smith after he defeated Jonny Clayton 4-3 in an absolute classic at Ally Pally… pic.twitter.com/TSVhgv4M08
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 29, 2021
Price versus Smith is the first of the quarter-finals to be established.
Price started the day 2/1 favourite in the outright betting, with Smith and Wright both on offer at 9/2. Punters have three matches on the Thursday night card to consider.
Wright Hoping to Continue Run
Another long session of action at Alexandra Palace on Thursday will complete the quarter-final draw.
Peter Wright and Ryan Searle, two of the favourites from the opposite side of the draw, face each other in the final match of Thursday night.
Wright, a 5/11 chance, can be fancied to see off Searle. Wright was awesome when he returned to his normal equipment against Damon Heta and looks a huge title threat if he sticks with his gold darts.
Wade Needs to Find Improvement
The opening joust is between James Wade and Martijn Kleermaker. Wade was hugely unimpressive in his 3-1 second-round victory over Maik Kuivenhoven, averaging just 83.74, typically downbeat afterwards.
Wade fans would have been hoping the three-time World Championship semi-finalist would have found top gear next time out against Vincent van der Voort, but the Dutchman tested positive for Covid, meaning Wade got a bye to round four.
If the same Wade that turned up against Kuivenhoven reappears against Kleermaker, then the Englishman could easily be heading out of the competition.
Kleermaker has already won three matches on his World Championship debut and showed great courage to see off Joe Cullen 4-3 in round three.
The 12/5 Kleermaker looks full of juice given the doubts about Wade, who has been suffering with some foot gout in recent weeks.
Voltage Looking to Avoid Shock Defeat
An English favourite looks more trustworthy in the second match of Thursday night – Rob Cross can be fancied to see off two-time champion Gary Anderson.
Ian White fluffed his lines after going 3-0 up against Anderson on Wednesday night, allowing the Flying Scotsman to fight back for a 4-3 success, but Cross possesses more killer instinct.
Voltage, as he is known, won the World Championship on his debut in 2018 – beating Phil Taylor 7-2 in the final – and the former electrician is creeping back to that sort of level.
Cross has been playing consistently well for months and has been outscoring Anderson at Alexandra Palace, so the 10/19 seems a solid play.
*Odds correct at time of writing
