2019 Betfred World Matchplay – Glen Durrant vs Michael Smith Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Glen Durrant vs Michael Smith taking place? Saturday 27th July, 2019
Where is Glen Durrant vs Michael Smith taking place? Winter Gardens, Blackpool
What channel is Glen Durrant vs Michael Smith on? Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action
Where can I stream Glen Durrant vs Michael Smith? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go
Where can I get tickets for Glen Durrant vs Michael Smith? Check https://www.pdc.tv/betfred-world-matchplay-tickets for ticket information
THE STATISTICS
All-time meetings: Glen Durrant 1-1 Michael Smith
Last meeting: Glen Durrant beat Michael Smith 6-4
THE PLAYERS
GLEN DURRANT
- Glen Durrant’s impressive run on his World Matchplay debut continued when he defeated multiple PDC major champion James Wade 16-7 on Thursday night to reach the semi-finals having previously defeated Michael van Gerwen and Adrian Lewis in the earlier rounds.
- Duzza was efficiently effective and never really needed to get out of second gear to see off the challenge of Wade, as the 2007 World Matchplay champion’s match average never went higher than 88 during the entire contest. The Machine did lead 3-2 at the first interval but when Durrant took the lead for the first time at 5-4 he never looked back, and it was all too easy for the three-time BDO world champion as he won leg after leg to pull away to victory.
- Durrant has played Michael Smith twice since he moved across from the BDO in January, with each player winning once. In their last encounter in May at Players Championship 15, Duzza defeated Smith 6-4 in the quarter-finals on his way to winning the tournament.
MICHAEL SMITH
- Michael Smith has defeated Jamie Hughes, Max Hopp and most latterly Mervyn King to reach the semi-finals at the World Matchplay for the first time in his career as he strives to win a maiden major TV tournament.
- The number five seed burst out of the blocks against the veteran King with winning legs of 12 and 11 darts to go 2-0 up and he led 4-1 at the first interval with an average of 113. Although Smith threatened to blow King out of the water, a mixture of erratic play from the younger man and some gritty play from his opponent saw the game become very competitive until a run of four consecutive legs with the score at 12-11 put the game out of sight.
- Until Smith’s run at the most recent World Championship when he progressed to the final, he had not reached a major ranking TV tournament semi-final since November 2015 at the Grand Slam of Darts. His subsequent appearances in the semi-finals at the UK Open and now the World Matchplay means it is three major ranking TV tournament semi-finals in a row for ‘Bully Boy’.
THE PREDICTION
This is a very intriguing semi-final encounter between the three-time BDO World Champion Glen Durrant, who only moved across to the PDC in January, and the very talented Michael Smith, who has previously reached the finals of both the World Championship and Premier League but has yet to claim his first major TV title.
The list of Durrant’s victims on his route to the semi-finals shows the quality he possesses and how he fears nobody. Duzza is embracing the experience at the World Matchplay with plenty of crowd support and he is highly motivated to win the trophy named after his darting hero Phil Taylor. Smith’s run to the semi-finals might have been littered with a mixture of brilliant and erratic darts but he has shown how much his mental toughness has improved by getting over the line in matches he may have lost a couple of years ago. In a very tough match to call, it might just be a few moments of brilliance from Smith that ends Duzza’s dream; the main betting tip though is over 29.5 legs in the game.
