Wayne Mardle: England should beat Japan in Quarter Finals but Belgium are the real threat

Jani Haavisto will be hoping to inspire Finland to victory

Wayne Mardle predicts an easy win for England against Japan, but thinks Belgium are the pair to look out for.

Well, what a day of darts yesterday! In what was a complete surprise to me and many others, five of the eight seeds went tumbling in the second round. It really did show what I touched on in my first column, namely that, in this short format, you're never far away from a shock or two.

Today is quarter final day and the format will now change slightly: We'll now see two singles matches (best of seven legs) and then a deciding pairs match if needed.

This new format will play into the hands of the English, in my view. They step up to the oche to face Japan in a game I think they'll win 2-0. Japan are as big as 13.5n/a to cause an upset but I just can't see that happening.

Similar to the England v Japan game, Spain against Wales is another game in which the format means the favourites will emerge victorious. If it was just a pairs setup Spain may well have been a threat, but Wales will be too strong and should also emerge 2-0 winners. Wales are currently 1.330/100 to record a win.

Finland face hosts Germany in their quarter final and will also of course have the obstacle of a home crowd to contend with. This one will be close but I can see Jani Haavisto being the deciding factor here. He's done the damage for Finland when needed and a bit of magic from him should see the Finns through.

First up though we've got Belgium taking on Croatia. The Belgians destroyed the Australians in the last round with a 101 average, the highest of the competition so far. Croatia have done well but this is where the tournament will end for them. 

And one thing's for sure, the Huybrechts brothers from Belgium are a real threat to win the whole tournament.

Recommended Bet

Finland to beat Germany @ 2.01/1