MENSUR Mania rocked the City West Hotel on Thursday night as the Austrian took out event favourite Peter Wright in a great display.
Snakebite was not able to respond to the Gentle’s persistence which led to a 3-1 victory in sensational fashion knocking off a 141 finish on double 18. His opponent Simon Whitlock had a far easier ride defeating Big Ben Van de Pas in straight sets in a game that can be described as Benito not motoring out of second gear.
The shock of the night was the Highlander John Henderson beating Raymond van Barneveld in great fashion seeing the Scot hold his nerve against the former five-time champion.
Henderson will take on countryman Daryl Gurney, whose epic resilience saw his game go to a final leg versus Robert Thornton who was defending ranking points from two years ago. Gurney was reduced to his knees on stage after the win and emotions took its toll.
The semi final
Henderson Vs Gurney – 3/1 Blacktype – 1/3 Marathonbet (Gurney leads 2-1)
Key stat – The pair has met three times spanning back to 2008 with the most recent meeting at a European Tour event back in May where Gurney won the game 6-4
Henderson is the 3/1 shot to cause another scalp and the home crowd are bound to rally home the 1/3 favourite Gurney. Odds compilers have Henderson to thank this week as Barney was well backed before round two at 4/5 to win his quarter and was beaten as a 2/7 shot against the 7/2 Highlander.
Looking at the betting Gurney is remarkably short at just 4/7 to win by two or more sets from the 1/3 outright. For Gurney to win 4-0 or 4-1 is just 5/4, probably worth avoiding.
The Irishman is 2/5 to top the maximums and admittedly we have not seen as many as we thought this week but in the last round Henderson netted just one with Gurney on four. It is not often John pockets more than three maximums and Daryl to win the max count by three or more is odds on implying odds compilers are giving nothing away here.
Whitlock Vs Suljovic – 2/1 Unibet – 1/2 Blacktype (Suljovic leads 5-3)
Key stat – Mensur has won all of the last five spanning from the 2015 World Grand Prix last 16 which he won 3-0
Both players are deserving at this stage with special mention to another Darts Tipster for his 10/1 on Whitlock to win his quarter was a fine selection, well done Sir!
Suljovic is now the 7/5 event favourite to lift the title come Saturday Night and feel the Austrian has the momentum now to go on and lift the title. Whitlock can stop Mensur but will need his A game certainly, and was fortunate to not need this in his quarter final.
Where credit is due Whitlock’s double bullseye on 120 was superb especially where on camera the target appeared blocked. Hearing the pause then game shot from referee George Noble made it sweeter.
Suljovic is going through an excellent period at the moment and a near certainty to be in the Premier League come January’s announcement. Mensur will break into the top four certainly if he lifts the title.
It is anticipated the game will not be as one sided as some may predict and seeing this is a race to four allows some time to settle in.
We expect Gurney and Suljovic to make the final and is best priced 10/11 with Betfair Sportsbook
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