World Matchplay tips: Jonny Clayton and Luke Humphries can progress to final four

Planet Sport brings you the best bets from day seven of the World Matchplay as Ryan Searle faces Jonny Clayton and Damon Heta meets Luke Humphries.

2023-07-21World Matchplay tips: Jonny Clayton and Luke Humphries can progress to final four

Joe Cullen was on fire early on Thursday night before deciding to make hard work of it against Daryl Gurney but he still covered the handicap. 

We fell a little short of the 180s in the second game of the night which was admittedly not Dobey's best scoring night. Fingers crossed for day seven of the World Matchplay at Winter Gardens.

Ryan Searle vs Jonny Clayton

Not even Ryan Searle truly believed he'd make it to the stage of this competition with the comical story emerging that he needed to book a new hotel.

He was fantastic against both Raymond van Barneveld and Peter Wright and he faces another step up in competition against the Welshman.

It's really not easy to perform to the best of your abilities week in, week out and that's what sets the top players apart.

Clayton was top drawer when dismantling Dimitri van Den Bergh 11-6, producing an average of 102 on the night.

There's no doubt that Ryan Searle is threatening to fulfil his potential and he could win major tournaments in the near future, but we don't think it's this one.

Clayton's experience and quality both at this stage of tournaments and over this format make us think he'll get over the line in this one.

We're used to seeing consistency from The Ferret and having found his best against Dimitri we don't think he'll let the opportunity of being in a wide-open World Matchplay slip.

Damon Heta vs Luke Humphries

Damon Heta has been one of the highlights of the tournament so far. He's the sort of character that every generation of darts needs.Ashes gimmicks aside, he's not a bad player, either. If day three of the fourth Ashes Test are anything like the previous two then he can expect a strong rebuttal from the crowd.

The level of darts he's produced has been fantastic and he deserves credit but it's also worth noting Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan haven't been formidable opponents.

Luke Humphries is playing well and the betting favourite for the World Matchplay is likely to put him under pressure he hasn't experienced at this tournament.

There's clear daylight between their scoring, seasonal averages and checkout percentage and it's worth noting has won all five meetings in 2023, including three on TV.

He looked good before the tournament with a couple of impressive tour titles and he seems to be playing confident, relaxed darts.

It will be interesting to see how Heta copes if Humpries makes a good start. If the Englishman gets his scoring going early, then he could struggle to keep pace.

It may well be passed off as friendly banter but the crowd will be fully behind Luke Humphries and every Heta miss will be cheered. Back Humphries