We’re getting towards the business-end of the World Matchplay.
The first two quarter-finals take place on Thursday evening, and it’s shaping up to be an incredible night of tungsten tension.
There are some incredible matches to come at the World Matchplay as Luke Humphries takes on Dimitri van den Bergh in what has become something of a grudge match.
Elsewhere, Michael Smith faces Rob Cross on Friday and Michael van Gerwen takes on the man he labelled as an ‘assassin’ in Andrew Gilding.
The toughest match to call in this round may be between James Wade and Ross Smith.
The Machine has been there and done it all before, while Smudger is in the form of his life, becoming arguably the best scorer on the PDC tour over the past 12 months.
Wade vs Smith is a tough one to predict, but both Phil Taylor and Wayne Mardle have tried to call which way this one will go.
Phil Taylor and Wayne Mardle disagree with World Matchplay predictions
Taylor stated that he thinks James Wade’s experience will get him over the line against Smith when speaking on a video posted to X.
“Today I’m going to go for the game between Ross Smith and James Wade. I think Wade might just sneak this having more experience,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, speaking on Sky Sports on Wednesday, Mardle stated that he thinks Smith will get the better of Wade.
“The format will get Dimitri beat and I think the format will get James Wade beat against Ross Smith. For the first five legs Smith couldn’t hit 180 against Gerwyn Price, then he hit 13 in 14 legs. It’s going to be a tough night for James I think and a tough night for Dimitri van den Bergh,” Mardle said.
Ross Smith is in better form than James Wade
This one could go either way, but Smith certainly heads into this game as the favourite.
Smudger has been utterly brilliant as of late, as Mardle says, he hit 13 180s in 14 legs against Gerwyn Price – that sort of form is good enough to win a tournament.
However, if there’s any player in the world who can pull a performance from out of nowhere it’s James Wade.
James Wade stated this week that he wants more respect, and Smith would be wise not to underestimate the former World Matchplay champion.