Scotty Dog could give Bunting big trouble

Sky Sports Action, 7pm Monday

PDC big guns Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall have got it all to do to reach round two of the Grand Slam as we reach judgement night for Groups E to H in Wolverhampton.

Snakebite, the Coral UK Open champion, has drifted to 11-1 to win the tournament as he faces up to a must-win showdown against Alan Norris to make it into the last 16.

Chizzy, meanwhile, is an 80-1 chance for Grand Slam glory having started the event as a 28-1 shot, and that’s courtesy of losing to Stephen Bunting. He now needs to beat Jeffrey de Zwaan by at least two legs to guarantee his place in round two.

Neither Norris nor De Zwaan look inspired enough to cause upsets, though Scott Mitchell can cause a minor stir by beating Bunting in the battle of the former Lakeside favourites.

Scotty Dog succeeded Bunting as BDO world champ at Frimley Green and is still a force in his organisation. He was given scant chance by an inspired Chizzy in their opening showdown – Mitchell only got three looks at a double, connecting twice, and averaged over 100 – but showed real strength to come from behind to beat De Zwaan 5-3 to stay alive.

Bunting has won two out of two and is playing well but this could be a nervy affair, especially if Chisnall beats De Zwaan earlier in the evening to join Bunting on four points.

It’s hard to give Berry van Peer much of a chance at fancy odds against Cameron Menzies. You would have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by Van Peer’s on-stage turmoil battling dartitis in defeat to Gary Anderson. There is no overnight fix and Menzies has been gifted an open goal into the next stage.

There could be a surprise when Mensur Suljovic plays James Wilson. The Yorkshireman can qualify having beaten Mark McGeeney and clearly has the game over a short format to beat anyone, and that includes the feisty Austrian.

Wilson is clearly the underdog but I’m not sure he should be a 5-2 chance.

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