The two Lukes, Littler and Humphries, head a stellar field going to Blackpool for the high spot of the summer darts schedule, the World Matchplay.
Top two seeds Littler and Humphries toe the oche as part of an elite field of 32 with their eyes on the £200,000 first prize and the chance to lift the Phil Taylor Trophy.
World No.1 Humphries is the defending champion but it’s world champion Littler who is the 15/8 favourite going into a mouthwatering week of top tungsten theatre along the Golden Mile.
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World Matchplay Outright Tips
- Gerwyn Price to win World Matchplay @ 15/2
- James Wade to win 1st Quarter @ 11/1
- Total Tournament 170 Checkouts – Under 3.5 @ 11/10
Gezzy can keep his cool in Winter Gardens furnace
Top two seeds, defending champion Luke Humphries and world champion Luke Littler, head the betting at the 32nd World Matchplay, the blue riband major of the PDC’s summer schedule.
Humphries, who beat Michael van Gerwen in last year’s final to lift the trophy for the first time, is 4/1 while Littler, a first-round casualty on his debut 12 months ago, is shorter still at 15/8.
You could rule out neither though it’s the next name in the betting, Gerwyn Price, who appeals more at 15/2.
Gezzy goes to Blackpool in seriously impressive form having won a pair of stage events in the last couple of weeks.
The Welshman kicked off July by landing the Poland Masters and a week later across the border in Germany beat, among others, Humphries and Gary Anderson to win the Baltic Sea Open.
Runner-up in 2022, Price is a seasoned major winner nowadays and the crowds who were on his case years back are far less abusive towards the colourful 11th seed.
Machine to click into gear on favourite stage
Phil Taylor loved the Matchplay so much they named the trophy after him.
The Power did win the title a mind-boggling 16 times, but another man with a serious soft spot for the venue and the event is James Wade.
Only Taylor has appeared in more Matchplay finals than Wade, whose trips to the Winter Gardens have yielded one win, five runner-up spots and three more semi-finals.
There is something about the Matchplay which brings out the best in the 42-year-old left-hander, who is worth trusting at a tempting price to win his quarter, something he has done nine times over his career.
Wade is in the same quarter as Humphries who he stunned – and wound up – en route to the UK Open final in March. And he has since gone on to win a Players Championship event to demonstrate the competitive juices are still there.
Big fish may not take the bait
The standard of darts gets better and better and better, so expect some dizzying numbers to be posted over the coming days.
But total tournament 170 checkouts might have been pitched too high at 3.5 given recent history.
Since 2017 there has been a 170 checkout every year – but never more than three in any one event. The players like to go for them, but that doesn’t mean they actually connect that often.
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