Grand Slam of Darts Betting Preview: Gerwyn Price headed for a hattrick?
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We take a look at the favourites ahead of the action from Coventry.
With the World Championships booked in for mid-December, there’s a packed schedule for PDC darts players, starting with nine days of action from the Ricoh Arena.
Can Michael van Gerwen claim his first televised tournament win since March? Or will Gerwyn Price be leaving Coventry with his third successive Grand Slam of Darts win?
Read on to see our take on the four favourites with our Grand Slam of Darts Betting Preview…
The Iceman has claimed the Eric Bristow trophy for two years in a row, and a win at the Ricoh would see him become just the third person to do so for three years consecutively – alongside Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor.
In the Group Stage, he’ll face Ryan Joyce, BDO Women’s World Champion Mikuru Suzuki and Johnny Clayton – his winning teammate in the World Cup of Darts, with the duo claiming the trophy for Wales.
Price claimed Day Three of the PDC Winter Series last week – crediting a tasty KFC with helping him to overcome a headache and the disappointment of Day One and Two.
With eight titles to his name so far this year, will the Iceman keep his cool to claim a hat-trick of Grand Slam wins?
It’s thought the nine-day format of the Grand Slam of Darts could suit the world champion as he looks to claim his seventh title of the year – after he added a European Championship title to his 2020 haul recently.
‘Snakebite’ has skipped a few recent events including the World Cup in Salzburg, but it’s yet to be seen whether his decision to rest ahead of a gruelling end-of-season will pay dividends.
That he’s picked the Grand Slam to make his return to the Oche does show one thing – he means business here.
Wright’s group includes Ian White, Devon Petersen and World Grand Prix runner-up Dirk van Duijvenbode – who he’ll face in his opening game.
While he’s still the world No. 1, ‘Mighty Mike’ has been plagued by a back injury for much of the year and is without a win since March, where he claimed the UK Open.
A disappointing Premier League campaign has led to suggestions that it’s not only his body that’s struggling – but that his calm and composure have deserted him too. With wayward darts and erratic play, it remains to be seen if has the consistency to make it all the way here.
All that aside, if he can get a head of steam going and make it to the latter stages, he may be able to overcome those doubts. As mentioned earlier, Van Gerwen is one of only two players to have won the Grand Slam for three consecutive years, with wins in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
In Group A he’ll face Gabriel Clemens, Adam Hunt and Joe Cullen – who beat him to win the International Darts Open in October.
The Englishman ended a two-year title drought in spectacular style last week at the Winter Series, winning Day One and Day Two, as he beat first Jermaine Wattimena, then Jose De Sousa – to end his 848 day wait for a win.
That means he’ll go into the Grand Slam full of confidence – prior to his Winter Series wins, he’d lost 10 finals during a period that must have seen him starting to doubt himself.
With the shackles of self-doubt removed, we could expect a renaissance from a man who now has eight PDC Pro Tour titles to his name.
He’ll face off against four-time women’s world champion Lisa Ashton, as well as Krzysztof Ratajski and Jose De Sousa in a tough Group C.
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