| |
Former major winner and leading pundit Paul Nicholson joins Sporting Life darts expert Chris Hammer and show host Dom Newton to run through each quarter of the draw with statistics and facts to predict who will reach the semi-finals and then the eventual finalists and champion.
You might just look at the match odds in this game and think Dave Chisnall is plenty short enough to defeat the Belgian Kim Huybrechts but he comes into this in fantastic form, boasts a significant advantage in previous Head to Heads and Kim has a terrible record in the Matchplay.
Looking at ‘Chizzy’ first and he comes into this bang in form with 19 wins in his last 23 matches over the four day players championship series over the past weekend and just prior to this he banged in six consecutive 100+ averages.
His four defeats came at the hands of excellent players too in Nathan Aspinall, Luke Humphries, Jermaine Wattimena and Jonny Clayton with averages of 94+ in three of those defeats underlining that he’ll be a difficult man to beat this week, from a draw that he will feel gives him chance of putting together a decent run.
He also remains one of the biggest maximum hitters around with a per leg ratio of 0.32 during 2022. His scoring prowess always gives him opportunities. No wonder he’s won 72% of matches he’s played this year.
Huybrechts isn’t playing too badly either. A yearly average of 93.08 suggests that and his win percentage of 62% is decent but he may struggle to match the scoring power of his opponent here as his 180 per leg ratio is a lowly 0.19 per leg for 2022.
Looking at his record in events since the turn of the year, the World Cup of Darts aside where he reached the Quarter Final he’s only reached that stage or better just once, that was at Players Championship 17 in June where he eventually lost to Nathan Aspinall 7-4 in the Semi-Final after whitewashing Peter Wright – the defending champion here – 6-0 in the Quarters.
All things considered it appears ‘Chizzy’ will have too much for the Hurricane and I expect him to win with a little to spare, especially if Kim doesn’t take his opportunities.
Score Prediction: 10-6