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Who will win the Grand Slam of Darts on Sunday?

Grand Slam of Darts: Final day predictions, odds, betting tips, order of play & TV times

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sun November 18, 2018 · 6y ago

Just four players remain in the hunt for Grand Slam of Darts glory on the final day so here's our preview with best bets and a suggested double.

It's been a unforgettable week in Wolverhampton packed full of dazzling performances, shock results, 170 checkouts, bad smells on the oche and, of course, a nine-dart finish.

The drama all ends today, with Michael van Gerwen favourite to win his fourth successive Grand Slam of Darts trophy but standing in his way in this afternoon's semi-finals happens to be his greatest threat, Gary Anderson.

Whoever comes through what we all expect to be another classic between the pair will of course be heavily backed to beat either Gerwyn Price or Mensur Suljovic in tonight's final - but is it really that clear cut?

Here, I'll run through both semi-finals with some stats, records and a suggested bet and then pick my overall winner.

Grand Slam of Darts: Sunday November 18

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AFTERNOON SESSION
SEMI-FINALS (Sky Sports: 1pm)
(Best of 31 legs)

Gerwyn Price (11/8) v Mensur Suljovic (4/7)

Head-to-head: 8-4
2018 Meetings: 1-2

2018 TOURNAMENT RUN & STATS
Group Position: 1st F - 2nd H
Group Points: 4 - 2
2nd Rd: Price bt Payne (10-5), Suljovic bt Cross (10-7)
QF: Price bt Whitlock (16-15), Suljovic bt van den Bergh (16-9)

Average: 96.34 - 95.94
180s: 18 - 9
100+ Checkouts: 3 - 5
High Checkout: 130 - 167
Checkout percentage: 41.67% (40/96) - 50% (38/76)
Legs Won/Lost: 40/34 - 38/28

Love him or hate him, nobody can deny Gerwyn Price showed tremendous fighting spirit and character to see off Simon Whitlock in that fiery quarter-final on Friday night, having trailed 15-13 and surviving five match darts.

Some may say lucky but he kept his composure when his moment came and deserves his spot in the last four for the first time in his career.

That said, the best I can see for him today is a battling defeat as he comes up against a Mensur Suljovic who's finally decided to turn up at the Aldersley Leisure Village.

The Austrian scrapped through the group with just two points and while he then saw off world champion Rob Cross - it was hardly a vintage performance from either player.

Suljovic however turned on the style against Dimitri van den Bergh, the nine-dart hero of the previous round, as he averaged 99, hit seven 180s and nailed 16 of his 30 double attempts, including a shot at the bull to complete a 167 checkout.

🔥👌 Mensur Suljovic's 167 checkout!pic.twitter.com/A4MwCNxXLZ
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) November 16, 2018

Incredibly the 180 he hit when leading 4-2 ended a run of 32 legs without a maximum but it's fair to say he's got that block out of his system now.

This is the sort of Suljovic who reached this summer's epic World Matchplay final against Gary Anderson and I expect him to get through here.

Although Price does boast a slightly better head-to-head record, it's important to stress that all three times they've met on TV in the 2017 European Championship and this year's Premier League and World Grand Prix, the Gentle came out on top.

Suljovic (-2.5 legs) at even money seems a good bet to me on the handicaps while I also like 13/8 on him to win, score over 4.5 180s and checkout over 112.5.

Prediction: Suljovic 16-12 Price

Michael van Gerwen (2/5) v Gary Anderson (2/1)

Head-to-head: 35-17 (2 draws)
2018 Meetings: 6-2

2018 TOURNAMENT RUN & STATS
Group Position: 2nd A - 1st D
Group Points: 4 - 6
2nd Rd: MVG bt Smith (10-8), Anderson bt Harms (10-2)
QFs: MVG bt Clayton (16-12), Anderson bt Unterbuchner (16-6)

TOURNAMENT STATS
Average: 104.68 - 100.42
180s: 30 - 21
100+ Checkouts: 1 - 4
High Checkout: 124 - 152
Checkout percentage: 40.82% (40/92) - 52.56% (41/78)
Legs Won/Lost: 40/27 - 41/12

When Gary Anderson trailed Michael Unterbuchner 2-0 on Saturday night, you had to wonder whether the embarrassment caused over fart-gate had got to him.

Or that his ego and confidence had taken a blow by being a shock Pointless answer on Friday for players to have beaten Phil Taylor at a World Championship.

Obviously neither of the above were true as he won 16 of the next 20 legs to soar into his sixth Grand Slam of Darts semi-final as he desperately bids to win this prestigious title for the first time in his incredible career.

Of course we've already seen him add maiden UK Open, World Matchplay, and Champions League crowns to his CV this year so there's clearly no kind of mental block about winning these previously illusive majors.

At the last of those aforementioned majors in Brighton, I was lucky enough to be there when he edged an epic with Michael van Gerwen 10-9 in the group stages as the Dutchman missed two match darts to knock Anderson out, who then landed a 140 checkout for victory.

🎯🙌 Yes, yes, yes Gary Anderson!

😲 In an enthralling deciding leg, the Flying Scotsman looked dead and buried way back on 299 when MVG left himself a finish.

🚂 Never give up when you can finish like this under pressure...pic.twitter.com/tES3fGUXA0
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) September 23, 2018

Nevertheless you can't be surprised to see MVG go off favourite to beat the Flying Scotsman for the seventh time out of nine meetings in 2018 and while he has laboured to this point compared to Anderson's loss of just 12 legs overall, his averages and general standard have been sky high.

He just happened to come up against an inspired Jonny Clayton twice and a world class performance from Michael Smith in the second round.

Anderson, by contrast, made a soft group look even easier, then came up against two BDO players in the longer format knockout stages, the last of which he also beat in the round robin stages.

Overall Anderson is much fresher and that could be crucial if it is indeed another long classic between the pair, so I'm backing him to win on the handicap at 11/10 with a +2.5 legs start.

If you want a bigger price then how about Anderson to win and MVG hit most 180s at an eye-catching 6/1? MVG has hit a tournament high of 30 - nine more than his opponent - and even if he loses a close contest, he'd quite possibly end up with most maximums.

Overall Winner

I went with Gary Anderson at the start of the event in my pre-event preview and also had a saver on anyone from the bottom half of the draw lifting the trophy, should the Flying Scotsman bow out.

There's been nothing to put me off Anderson so I'm sticking to my guns on that but if you've yet to have a bet on the overall champion then perhaps the best value now is on Mensur Suljovic, who is showing his real self now and would make an awkward opponent for either finalist.