Friday 1 October 2021

Grand Prix incoming

I really must post recaps of tournaments quicker, but general apathy towards the clusterfuck is the European Tour has kind of knocked me back a bit. Congrats to Gerwyn for winning again, while it was a bit of the old guard returning with Mensur and Whitlock making good runs, Aspinall also reaching the semi finals. Wasn't good enough to get Simon into the Grand Prix, which is a big loss for him and will knock him down the rankings. Speaking of which...

New FRH rankings (these incorporate Grand Prix mincashes):

1 Gerwyn Price
2 Peter Wright
3 Michael van Gerwen
4 James Wade
5 Dimitri van den Bergh
6 Jose de Sousa (UP 1)
7 Gary Anderson (DOWN 1)
8 Michael Smith
9 Krzysztof Ratajski (UP 1)
10 Dave Chisnall (DOWN 1)
11 Joe Cullen
12 Jonny Clayton
13 Dirk van Duijvenbode
14 Nathan Aspinall
15 Stephen Bunting
16 Devon Petersen
17 Mervyn King
18 Luke Humphries (UP 2)
19 Simon Whitlock (DOWN 1)
20 Daryl Gurney (DOWN 1)

Luke would have stayed where he is if we don't count Grand Prix money. Petersen oddly holds on to the top 16 spot for now, but will drop out if King can beat Kleermaker or Humphries beats van Duijvenbode, both of which look very live possibilities. Next man down who isn't in the Leicester field is Chris Dobey, who's now been passed by Callan Rydz. Suljovic's final pushes him back into the top 30.

So, double in in Leicester. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it. I'll likely post tips on Sunday morning, but first, some quick draw thoughts:

Price/Smith - One that looks spicy on paper but one that Gerwyn likely wins surprisingly comfortably.
Kleermaker/King - Yet to be convinced that Martijn is really good enough to be making major fields. King's had a good twelve months and ought to take this.
Chisnall/Suljovic - Dave's had a fairly quiet year after his worlds exploits and he's now slid below Ratajski. Would have said this should be comfortable, but Mensur looked OK and who knows now.
Cullen/Smith - Interesting one for Ross. These are the sorts of games Joe needs to be winning if he really wants to push on in the rankings, this is a real potential banana skin.
Wade/Heta - I'm sure I've described Heta's game as being a bit like Wade's. Maybe they played before at some point fairly recently. I can't remember. Wade probably out Heta's Heta here.
Bunting/Gurney - Daryl was actually fairly close to missing out on this one. He was only one of the last three players in. It's a decent shot for both this, ought to be fairly evenly poised.
van den Bergh/Searle - Don't think either player really wanted this one. Searle would have liked to avoid a seed, and Dimitri's hit one of the most dangerous non-seeds in the field. Tough one to call.
van Duijvenbode/Humphries - Dirk's gone a little bit off the boil in the last few months, and couldn't get a win with either shot in the last couple of events and misses the Euros as a result. Luke's still in our circle of betting trust but the market has almost caught up now. Would think Luke'll have enough here.
Wright/Cross - This one would have been fun a couple of years ago. As is,  can't really see Rob putting up too much resistance.
Aspinall/Ratajski - This one might quietly be tie of the round. Not heard much out of Nathan in 2021, but is picking his game up it seems, and Krzysztof always produces the goods.
de Sousa/Durrant - LOL
Rydz/Clayton - Callan has the peak game to defeat Clayton here, who's had a couple of wobbles of late and it's ended up costing him a spot at Salzburg. If Jonny isn't on his game here he could easily be upset.
van Gerwen/Noppert - Repeat from last weekend. Danny can easily do this, he just needs a bit of composure at key moments.
van der Voort/Clemens - Weird one this. Can't really recall either player doing much of anything in 2021. Who knows. Gabriel probably slightly better.
Anderson/White - What Ian is going to turn up? He's not really had anything of note in 2021. Then again, has Gary done anything since the worlds final?
Labanauskas/Dolan - I'm not entirely sure how Darius has edged into the field, but here we are. Brendan is a bad draw though, and Darius probably loses this.

I think I'm way behind on 2nd/3rd division darts. I'll catch up this weekend.

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