The Australian Darts Masters may have lacked some of the upsets that some may have expected, but that is not to say that the top PDC representatives had an easy day.
Ross Smith will certainly feel he drew the short straw after suffering another First Round exit at the two World Series events played in New Zealand and Australia.
Plenty of other top names were pushed all of the way, but the Quarter Final line up has been put together with seven of the eight players that are familiar to most.
Gerwyn Price & over 2.5 180s v Josh Rock: Recent form makes it difficult to believe anyone other than Gerwyn Price will win this Quarter Final, but it would be foolish to dismiss the chances of Josh Rock.
The last Premier League meeting between these players ended in a 6-3 win for Josh Rock, but Gerwyn Price reached the New Zealand Masters Final and he has a level that may be tough for the Northern Irishman to reach.
Josh Rock is a talent that needs to be respected, but the feeling here is that Gerwyn Price can produce the maximums that eventually puts him in a position to win this Quarter Final.
Over the last couple of weeks, Price has found a level that has been consistently stronger than the one that Josh Rock has reached and that may be the case again.
James Wade v Stephen Bunting: A relatively poor performance did not stop Stephen Bunting getting through the opening Round at the Australian Darts Masters, but he is going to have to be a lot better to win this match.
Some of the Legs played have been dominated by Stephen Bunting, but he has thrown in too many poor Legs and that has meant being in the midst of a poor run of form.
James Wade was in exceptional form in his First Round win, and it is almost certainly going to be tough for him to reach that level once again.
However, The Machine remains a steady force on the Tour and one who feels he should have been invited into the Premier League and he can get the better of one of those eight players involved in that tournament earlier this season.
Jonny Clayton-Damon Heta over 4.5 180s: When these two players met at the World Matchplay, they shared out nine maximums in seventeen Legs played.
Both Jonny Clayton and Damon Heta are very strong maximum hitters and this is a total that can be reached as long as there are at least nine Legs played.
Damon Heta may deserve the edge in the match considering the improved form he continues to show and he will also have the home crowd behind him. That can give Heta a boost as he looks for a big day to conclude the World Series events played Down Under and The Heat has been comfortable here.
In saying all of that, Jonny Clayton is a stronger finisher and scores well enough to to give himself a chance to win any match he plays.
The Welshman is the favourite, but he may need to score well to secure the victory and that may lead to plenty of maximums hit.
Both players are capable of getting stuck into the treble twenty bed and there is every reason to believe these two players can combine for at least five maximums in this Quarter Final.
MY PICKS: Gerwyn Price & Over 2.5 180s @ 2.25 Bet365 (1 Unit)
James Wade @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Jonny Clayton-Damon Heta Over 4.5 180s @ 1.80 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Australian Darts Masters: 2-3, - 0.70 Units (5 Units Staked, - 14% Yield)
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