Grand Slam semi will see Belgian giant-slayer Huybrechts felled
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A scintillating display from Kim Huybrechts proved too much for Michael van Gerwen to handle in the Grand Slam of Darts quarter final and, after seeing off the world number one, the Belgian thrower is favourite to prevail in his semi-final against Dave Chisnall.
The Hurricane – who nailed a nine-dart finish en route to toppling his Dutch counterpart 16-10 – is as short as 8/11 to book a spot in the Wolverhampton Civic Hall showpiece, with the imaginatively monikered ‘Chizzy’ an 11/10 underdog.
St Helens slinger Chisnall produced a remarkable comeback to best young upstart Keegan Brown on his last appearance at the oche, reversing a margin that once stood as wide as 8-2 to win 16-14.
This resilience suggests he can’t be discounted in the final four and victory for Chizzee Rascal features as our first of three semi-final best bets.
The son of Antwerp is a favoured foe of Chisnall, who has prevailed on a staggering eight of the 11 instances in which the pair have flung tungsten.
He hasn’t lost to Huybrechts since a Champions League group-stage game back in 2012, recording five straight triumphs since.
Chisnall’s strongest asset is ability to fill the lipstick, but he hasn’t been doing so with the same vigour this week.
He hit just one in seven legs against Adrian Lewis in the group stage, while only three came in his last-16 encounter with Robbie Green.
Even the extension to a first to 16 legs format didn’t spark a drastic change, with just 11 scored in a 30-leg epic with Brown.
The Hurricane has out maximum-ed him in both of the knockout matches in this tournament and looks good value to do so once again.
After two gruelling quarter finals, the duo look set to put spectators through the ringer once more with a semi-final leviathan.
Huybrechts’ last eight outing fell 1.5 legs short of the line in question, while Chisnall’s soared past it.
Their meetings, while typically favouring the latter, tend to be tightly contested affairs too, with only one of their last ten renewals being settled by a deficit greater than two legs.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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