Grand Slam of Darts 2022: Final day predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time

There will be a new champion of the Grand Slam of Darts tonight but will it be Michael Smith finally celebrating the first major title of his career or fellow Englishman Nathan Aspinall clinching his second?

We look ahead to the climax of a thrilling nine days in Wolverhampton, including statistics, tips and head-to-head record...

Darts betting tips: Grand Slam of Darts day nine

1pt Michael Smith to win and hit 10+ 180s at 6/5 (Sky Bet)

Earlier semi-final tips

1pt Michael Smith to win, hit most 180s and have the highest checkout at 7/4 (Sky Bet) WON

1pt Luke Humphries to win and hit most 180s at 11/8 (Sky Bet) LOST

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Michael Smith (1/2) v Nathan Aspinall (6/4)

• TV Coverage: 1900 GMT, Sky Sports
• Format: Final, best of 31 legs

HEAD-TO-HEAD

• All matches (TV): 7-6 (5-4)
• This season (TV): 0-1 (0-1)

Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall have only met once in the last couple of years and it occurred as recently as October during the opening round of the World Grand Prix.

Aspinall pinched it 2-1 before going on to reach the final and although he very gallant runner-up to Michael van Gerwen, it was yet another run which continued his resurgence at the top of the sport following a very tough 2021.

A year earlier, the Asp had done a Premier League regular season double over Smith, who had won seven of their 10 previous meetings dating all the way back to 2016.

TOURNAMENT STATISTICS

Michael Smith stats listed first

• Group Stage position: Winner C - Winner E
• Three-Dart Average: 99.46 - 95.48
• 180s total: 31 - 21
• 180s per leg: 0.32 - 0.22
• Checkout %: 39.58% (57/144) - 40.29% (56/139)
• 100+ checkouts: 5 - 6
• 100+ checkout per leg won: 8.77% - 10.71%

By his own admission, Michael Smith didn't play particularly well by his high standards during the group stages - or in his second-round victory over Rob Cross.

His usual scoring power and 180 hitting had deserted him somewhat but he was at least rescuing himself on the doubles.

Bully Boy knew he needed to up his game and he did just that against Joe Cullen, averaging 100 and firing in 14 180s during a thrilling quarter-final that went all the way to a deciding leg. Smith had trailed 15-13 but never allowed his opponent an attempt at a match dart in those last three legs and that highlighted a real sign of mental strength, especially considering the Rockstar was leaving himself finishes.

Smith upped the ante to end Raymond van Barneveld's dream run with a 104 average and a further 17 maximums across the 28 legs - although sloppy doubling (32.7%) had allowed the Dutchman to come back from 5-0 down to level at 10-10 before the St Helens man found another gear.

Aspinall hasn't yet produced those kind of average levels that Smith has managed in the past couple of matches; instead relying on his trademark battling qualities to scrap through a tough group before overcoming Jermaine Wattimena, Alan Soutar and Luke Humphries in the knockout stages.

He was underdog against Humphries earlier today but he showed true fighting spirit when the chips were down before sprinting to the line for a 16-12 success and averaging 96.7 compared to his opponent's 94.38.

SEASONAL STATISTICS

In the below stats (courtesy of @CarlyFletch and his @DartsTracker), the averages and 180 per leg data is for all PDC events in 2022, while checkout percentage is for stage events only.

• Three-Dart Average (2022): 96.66 - 94.99
• 180s per leg (2022): 0.35 - 0.26
• Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 39.28% - 42.04%
• 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 10.52% - 13.84%
• Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 31.74% - 22.69%

These statistics don't have as much relevance as they did at the start of the tournament but they do highlight how Smith is consistently a heavier scorer and more prolific 180 hitter than Aspinall, while the Stockport thrower is more clinical on his doubles and more dangerous on the 100+ checkouts.

PREDICTION

I tipped Michael Smith in my pre-tournament preview at 12/1 and based on his past two performances, he really is a deserving favourite to finally bag his first major title.

As mentioned earlier, the way he came from 15-13 down against Cullen will have been huge for Smith's mental strength and belief because he clawed his way back on his own merits alone; there were no missed match darts to rely on.

Despite a bit of a mid-match wobble, he dealt with an inspired Barney pretty ruthlessly towards the end and as much as Aspinall will fight tonight, he may find Smith too hot to handle.

Scoreline Verdict: 16-13

• CLICK HERE to back Michael Smith to win and hit 10+ 180s at 6/5 (Sky Bet)

SEMI-FINALS

• Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
• TV Coverage: Sky Sports
• Format: Semi-finals, best of 31 legs

Raymond van Barneveld (13/8) v Michael Smith (4/9)

• Head to Head (TV): 8-12, 1 draw (5-6, 1 draw)
• 2022 Head to Head (TV): 1-1 (0-0)
• Group Stage position: Winner A - Winner C
• Three-Dart Average (2022): 93.3 - 96.66
• 180s per leg (2022): 0.19 – 0.35
• Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 43.28% - 39.28%
• 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 10.83% - 10.52%
• Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 12.77% - 31.74%

As much as I'm a sporting romantic and believer in the sporting gods, I must confess that I just couldn't see Raymond van Barneveld beating Gerwyn Price. Logically it was just one step too far.

His lack of recent exposure to an extremely long format - especially at the age of 55 and three years on from retiring partly due to the mental and physical demands of modern darts - was one of the main reasons for expecting his fairytale run to end with grace on Friday night, as well as the knowledge that he'd have to average around 100 for 30 legs to stand a chance.

We all knew he can still conjure up moments of magic but not consistently enough to beat someone of Price's iron mental strength and abilities at a venue where he'd never been knocked out in three previous Grand Slam of Darts.

Barney had inflicted one of Price's three group defeats on this stage but at 8-3 down revenge looked an absolutely certainty. How he came back to win 16-13 and defy the Iceman's 101 average is simply remarkable.

After beating Simon Whitlock 10-8 in a high-quality second round match, he looked at me in the eyes and told me angels were helping him and asked them to 'keep coming guys'. Why did I not let faith rule my head?

I'm in the same scenario again, with Michael Smith rated as hot favourite to defeat the Dutch legend, who has now won nine matches on the trot including the qualifying event that few expected him to come through.

Smith is my headline selection from pre-tournament and obviously had no issues about winning major semi-finals having won eight of them in his career and three this year - it's lifting the trophy that is the hard bit.

Bully Boy finally found his form after a rather mediocre week when overcoming Joe Cullen 16-15 in another quarter-final thriller but more importantly than his 100 average and 14 180s, he showed real mental strength when trailing 15-13.

He didn't allow Cullen one attempt at a match dart in those last three legs, pinning two of his doubles with his last dart in hand when the Rockstar was waiting on an easy finish - and that's extremely encouraging.

If Barney, who averaged around 100 and threw six 180s against Price, plays as well again then of course he'll run Smith close but can logic be defied again? I'm going with my head again.

Throwing in the high checkout as well as most 180s is always a risk but they've both won around 10.5% of their legs this season with 100+ checkouts so if Smith does win significantly more legs, he does have a very sound chance of bringing home the match treble like he has in 31.74% of his victories in 2022.

Verdict: 10-16

• CLICK HERE to back Smith to win, hit most 180s and have the highest checkout with Sky Bet

Nathan Aspinall (5/4) v Luke Humphries (4/7)

• Head to Head (TV): 3-1 (1-0)
• 2022 Head to Head (TV): 1-1 (1-0)
• Group Stage position: Winner E - Winner H
• Three-Dart Average (2022): 94.99 - 97.51
• 180s per leg (2022): 0.26 - 0.33
• Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 42.04% - 40.75%
• 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 13.84% - 12.61%
• Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 22.69% - 31.51%

Nathan Aspinall was fuming back in the summer when everyone backed Luke Humphries to beat him in the first round of the World Matchplay. He felt everyone had forgotten about him.

Since putting the doubters in their places with victory that night, the Asp continued to remind everyone of his talents and battling qualities having picked up a second Pro Tour title of the season in August before his superb run to the World Grand Prix final and his latest major exploits in Wolverhampton this week.

That said, he's still the underdog against Luke Humphries.

He can't really complain too much, however, based on their respective 2022 title count (5-2 in Humphries' favour), their seasonal averages and their overall performance levels over the past week.

Statistically, Humphries hasn't been firing quite as well as earlier in the campaign apart from his 107 average in a thumping 5-1 win over Ryan Searle in the group stages, but what he's lacked in the sky high averages he's more than made up with how he's dealt with knockout battles, particularly his brilliant triumph over Michael van Gerwen last night.

MVG may well have been below his very best, but Humphries punished him pretty ruthlessly with a 16-10 scoreline and firing in three ton+ checkouts along the way.

Aspinall hasn't been at the top of his game either but after battling through the group stages he would later get his revenge on Alan Soutar with a typically hard-fought quarter-final that he edged 16-12.

I'm going with Humphries in this one and also fancy him to hit the most 180s due to their maximum per leg ratios this season and in the tournament so far (0.29 v 0.24).

Verdict: 13-16

• CLICK HERE to back Humphries to win and hit most 180s with Sky Bet

Grand Slam of Darts: Group stage standings and results

• Scoring System: Each competitor played each other once in a best-of-nine legs match, with two points going to the winner. The top two from each group progressed to the knockout stages.

Group A

• Dave Chisnall 3-5 Raymond van Barneveld
• Gerwyn Price 5-1 Ted Evetts
• Dave Chisnall 5-2 Ted Evetts
• Gerwyn Price 4-5 Raymond van Barneveld
• Raymond van Barneveld 5-0 Ted Evetts
• Gerwyn Price 5-4 Dave Chisnall

Group B

• Simon Whitlock 5-2 Mensur Suljovic
• Danny Noppert 5-4 Christian Perez
• Mensur Suljovic 5-2 Christian Perez
• Danny Noppert 5-2 Simon Whitlock
• Simon Whitlock 5-3 Christian Perez
• Danny Noppert 5-4 Mensur Suljovic

Group C

• Joe Cullen 5-1 Ritchie Edhouse
• Michael Smith 5-3 Lisa Ashton
• Ritchie Edhouse 5-2 Lisa Ashton
• Michael Smith 5-1 Joe Cullen
• Joe Cullen 5-3 Lisa Ashton
• Michael Smith 5-1 Ritchie Edhouse

Group D

• Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-4 Martin Schindler
• Rob Cross 5-2 Adam Gawlas
• Martin Schindler 5-3 Adam Gawlas
• Rob Cross 3-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
• Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-3 Adam Gawlas
• Rob Cross 5-4 Martin Schindler

Group E

• Nathan Aspinall 4-5 Alan Soutar
• Peter Wright 5-1 Fallon Sherrock
• Nathan Aspinall 5-1 Fallon Sherrock
• Peter Wright 5-4 Alan Soutar
• Alan Soutar 5-2 Fallon Sherrock
• Peter Wright 2-5 Nathan Aspinall

Group F

• Damon Heta 2-5 Jermaine Wattimena
• Jonny Clayton 5-0 Leonard Gates
• Damon Heta 5-4 Leonard Gates
• Jonny Clayton 5-0 Jermaine Wattimena
• Jermaine Wattimena 5-1 Leonard Gates
• Jonny Clayton 2-5 Damon Heta

Group G

• Ross Smith 4-5 Luke Woodhouse
• Michael van Gerwen 5-2 Nathan Rafferty
• Ross Smith 5-2 Nathan Rafferty
• Michael van Gerwen 5-1 Luke Woodhouse
• Luke Woodhouse 4-5 Nathan Rafferty
• Michael van Gerwen 4-5 Ross Smith

Group H

• Ryan Searle 5-4 Josh Rock
• Luke Humphries 5-2 Scott Williams
• Josh Rock 5-4 Scott Williams
• Luke Humphries 5-1 Ryan Searle
• Ryan Searle 3-5 Scott Williams
• Luke Humphries 3-5 Josh Rock

Grand Slam of Darts: Knockout results

Wednesday November 16 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

• Raymond van Barneveld 10-8 Simon Whitlock
• Michael Smith 10-8 Rob Cross
• Danny Noppert 8-10 Gerwyn Price
• Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-10 Joe Cullen

CLICK HERE FOR NIGHT FIVE REVIEW

Thursday November 17 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

• Nathan Aspinall 10-6 Jermaine Wattimena
• Jonny Clayton 8-10 Alan Soutar
• Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Josh Rock ROCK HITS A NINE-DARTER
• Luke Humphries 10-8 Ross Smith

CLICK HERE FOR NIGHT SIX REVIEW

Friday November 18
Evening Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

• Michael Smith 16-15 Joe Cullen
• Raymond van Barneveld 16-13 Gerwyn Price

CLICK HERE FOR NIGHT SEVEN REVIEW

Saturday November 19
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

• Two matches

Sunday November 20
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)

• Two matches

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)

• Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE DAILY SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

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