The quarter-finals of the 2025 Betfred World Matchplay begin at the Winter Gardens on Thursday so check out Chris Hammer's match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.
World Matchplay day five: Thursday July 24
- ·TV Coverage: Sky Sports, 1900 BST
- ·Format: Quarter-finals, best of 31 legs
SL Double: 1pt Gian van Veen to win and hit most 180s & over 19.5 180s in Bunting v Clayton at 3/1 (Sky Bet) *Four of our six accas have come in so far at 6/1, 16/5, 3/1 and 5/2!
Gian van Veen (8/13) v James Wade (6/5)
- Head-to-head: 3-7
- Three-Dart Average (2025): 97.99 - 94.49
- 180s per leg (Last 12 months): 0.29 - 0.24
- Checkout % (Last 12 months): 44.95% - 42.49
SELECTION: 1pt Gian van Veen to win and hit most 180s at 11/10 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
Gian van Veen is quickly building a reputation for being one of the sport's brightest role models thanks to his superb performances on the oche and the way he handles himself off it.
The Dutchman underlined his rich potential by holding his nerve to take out defending champion Luke Humphries on opening night and then after spending a day off inspiring some local school children for the PDC's Bullseye Maths scheme, he returned to the Winter Gardens to demolish Danny Noppert.
Gian van Veen was in local schools today and was staggered how many kids in the UK love darts compared to the Netherlands.
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) July 22, 2025
Gian is turning into a top model for the sport on and off the oche 👏 pic.twitter.com/pNW544Xl95
His tournament average may 'only' be in the mid-90s but I sense he's pacing himself well and will work his way through the extra gears when he needs to in the longer format - which he insists suits his game despite not having a great deal of experience at it.
James Wade is obviously extremely familiar with the long format and business end of major events, so I'm sure some fans will be slightly surprised to see him priced up as the outsider, especially given his average this week is a highly impressive 103.38.
The Machine put both Joe Cullen and Wessel Nijman to the sword with a pair of clinical performances but without taking too much away from him, neither opponent played anywhere near their best.
I picked Van Veen out from the start as an each-way shout and I'm not considering deserting him now, and not only do I fancy him to advance to the semi-finals but his superior 180 per leg rate should also help him fire in most maximums.
At least for Wade, he'll have earned enough for his Happy Bus fare home.
Scoreline prediction: 16-13
"He doesn't have to get on an EasyJet. He doesn't have to get on a Happy Bus."
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) July 22, 2025
This is what happens when you talk to James Wade about Scottie Scheffler and it doesn't go to plan 😂 pic.twitter.com/EzveHyT77r
Stephen Bunting (5/6) v Jonny Clayton (5/6)
- Head-to-head: 7-11
- Three-Dart Average (2025): 97.77 - 96.45
- 180s per leg (Last 12 months): 0.34 - 0.28
- Checkout % (Last 12 months): 40.48% - 41.66%
I'm struggling to call this match as much as the bookies, pundits and fans.
I picked Stephen Bunting alongside with Gian van Veen and Josh Rock as one of my pre-tournament title tips but he'd be the first to admit that his two performances so far haven't exactly been to the standard he was hoping for.
Obviously the most important thing is winning and he did just that with battling - and highly entertaining - victories over Ryan Joyce and Gary Anderson while he's also fired in 18 maximums at a rate of 0.45 per leg this week.
During the post-match press conferences on Tuesday night, neither Bunting nor Jonny Clayton looked like players who just had the thrill of booking their places in the World Matchplay quarter-finals.
In fact the Ferret was so dejected with his display that anyone would have thought he'd got knocked out!
"Ones again are my favourite number. If they could put the 19 next door to the 20, I'd be World Champion," he quipped with no hint that he was making quite a funny joke.
He actually hit nine 180s in that win against Mike de Decker so he was finding the treble 20s a bit more than he gave himself credit for, while he's banging them in at a rate of 0.47 this week.
Aside from the second-round matches, they've both enjoyed superb seasons and both have genuine claims of lifting this trophy at the end of the week.
I think we're going to see plenty of legs, much higher averages and at least 20 180s in a classic to end the night.
Scoreline prediction: 16-14
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