I can’t see Luke Littler making life difficult for himself again when he takes on Andrew Gilding on Friday night. ‘The Nuke’ survived a real scare against Jermaine Wattimena to progress from the second round. Littler was clearly and understandably relieved to have come through that tie, and I think it will have served as a wake-up call for him moving forward.

While Gilding has shown that he could prove to be another tricky customer for Littler to get past, it’s hard to make a case for him against the teenage trailblazer over such a long format, and that is reflected in the pre-match odds.  

The Littler Win and Most 180s formula has been a fruitful one for me across the opening two rounds and I’m happy to follow that theme again on Friday night. Littler has won the 180 battle in each of his opening two outings, hitting 5 against Ryan Searle and then 9 in his win over Wattiemena. 

Yes, ‘Goldfinger’ has also proven to be a dab hand on the 180 front in his two wins so far, but it’s difficult to envisage him keeping pace with serial maximum hitter Littler, especially in a race to 16. 

Josh Rock’s clash with Gerwyn Price has all the ingredients to be a classic. Of all the four quarter-final ties, this is the one I’m most excited about. While a strong case could be made for either player, I find it hard to look past Price given his current form. 

‘The Iceman’ brilliantly dismantled Chris Dobey on Wednesday night with the standout performance of the tournament so far, romping to an 11-3 victory. He looked absolutely unstoppable at times, averaging a whopping 108.73 and converting an incredible 73.33% of his doubles. 

While ‘Rocky’ should provide a tougher test, the Northern Irishman had to dig deep to get past Michael van Gerwen in the second round. Some wasteful finishing at crucial points in the game saw the Dutchman let Rock off the hook, but a red-hot Price won’t be so accommodating. 

The Welshman is toeing the oche with the demeanour and confidence of a man who believes that he will go on to win the World Matchplay trophy this weekend,  and I’m backing him to take another step towards glory in Blackpool.