2020 Players Championship Finals

Hot on the heels of a thrilling Grand Slam of Darts we have another major championship this weekend. The 2020 Players Championship finals is the culmination of the twenty three players championship qualifying events played throughout 2020.

The top 64 players on the players championship O.O.M. are seeded in order, with the number 1 playing the 64 ranked player and so on. This way we can have the number one and two seeds meeting in the final. The format means that surprise finalists are few and far between. Only Jonny Clayton reaching the final in 2017 could be called a surprise.

MVG Previously Dominant

Michael van Gerwen has won five of the last seven Players Championship finals and was runner up in another. Only Gary Anderson and Daryl Gurney have knocked him off his perch in that time. This year, Van Gerwen is not the number 1 seed, he is number three seed. He is behind Peter Wright as the first seed and Gerwyn Price as the number two.

2020 Has been a strange year and darts has seen its share of surprises. Just this week we have seen Jose De Sousa win the Grand Salm of Darts the second new major winner of the year after Dimitri van den Bergh won the World Matchplay in the summer.

We had two debutants playing in the final of the Premier League and Devon Petersen became the first African player to win a PDC title on the Euro Tour. We have also seen a dry spell for world number 1 Michael van Gerwen who has not won a tournament since players championship 16 back in mid-September. That means he has player thirteen tournaments without winning one.

Fast and Furious

This weekend’s format is a lot more fast and furious than the Grand Slam. The first round sees 32 best of 11 leg matches played on two stages on Friday. Saturday has the sixteen second round matches played in the afternoon, also best of 11 legs. The evening session has the eight third round matches which are best of 19 legs. It concludes on Sunday with the quarter finals, semi-finals and the final. The semi-finals and final are best of 21 legs.

2020 Players Championship Finals: First Quarter

The first quarter of the draw has Peter Wright as the number one seed. He has won more money (£77250) than anyone else and picked up four titles overall. He also has the highest average over the 23 tournaments with a 99.86. Snake bite has played more players championship matches than anybody else, 107 matches 22 more than the next best, Nathan Aspinall. He also has the highest strike rate on the 180’s.

Wright was a surprise flop at the Grand Slam however, losing two group matches and not making the play off stage. He was back to changing his darts, even to the point of changing them mid match. It was probably just a blip but far from ideal preparation. His form before the Grand Slam was very good having won PC 22 and the European Championship. If anyone deserves to win the Players Championship after the season he has had, it is Peter Wright.

Other dangermen in the quarter are Grand Slam semi-finalist Simon Whitlock, another Grand Slam semi-finalist and World Matchplay champion Dimitri van den Bergh. There is also 2018 Champion Daryl Gurney, the newly crowned Grand Slam Champion Jose de Sousa, the limping Gary Anderson and Michael Smith. The quarter of death surely?

Second Quarter

Nathan Aspinall is the fourth seed, and he heads the quarter. His recent form has not been his best, but he reached the quarter final of the Grand Slam and only lost that match in a deciding leg. He won two players championship titles before the lockdown, the online Home Tour during, it and was runner up in the Premier League. He does thrive on the buzz from playing in front of a crowd and there not be one this weekend.

The Asp is joined, not by many big names, but some live outsiders such as Krzysztof Ratajski, Damon Heta and Danny Noppert. Ratajski has been losing too many matches for my liking, playing well, but losing. Heta I like very much. To reach the top 13 on the OOM (despite not playing in the Summer Series and thus missing out on five tournaments) on his debut season, win a tournament and have a good run at the Grand Slam marks him out as a winner of plenty of future tournaments.

Third Quarter

Number two seed Gerwyn Price is the top seed here. He too was disappointing at the Grand Slam. Unimpressive in the group stage and knocked out by Aspinall in the second round. The Iceman is the winning most player of 2020 however so he can’t be dismissed. He also has a fairly decent draw. The only obvious dangers in the quarter are Devon Petersen, not great himself at the Slam, Ian White, ditto, Clemens and Cullen, other Grand Slam disappointments.

Fourth Quarter

Michael van Gerwen heads the quarter and while his scoring is a good as usual, his doubling under pressure is a serious worry. He can bully the lesser players but when he is up against some throwing big numbers back at him, he is cracking. It is quite a tough group and the dangermen are Jonny Clayton, a recovering Glen Durrant, Grand Slam runner up James Wade, Dirk van Duijvenbode and the in-form Brendan Dolan. It is not a given that MVG gets past that lot.

2020 Players Championship Finals: Players of interest

Michael van Gerwen remains the favourite to win the tournament (5.00) which is understandable if you are looking at historical form only. The fact that he has gone 13 tournaments without winning one says that those odds are way too short.

Gerwyn Price is the 5.50 second favourite. In the time since Van Gerwen won his last tournament, Gerwyn Price has won five. He has a good draw, facing the desperately out of form John Henderson in the first round and his path to the quarter final looks navigable. Devon Petersen at his best can and has beaten Price but his form has just gone a little off the boil. Petersen relies on hitting a lot of 180’s and when he isn’t hitting them, he loses.

Peter Wright completes the big three in the betting market. A 6.50 shot, Snakebite tops the OOM, tops the 3 dart average and the 180’s strike rate. Arguably he should be the favourite and his form in the recent Autumn Series was outstanding.

He only won one of the five tournaments, but he was scoring like a demon with ton plus daily averages in four of the five days. His poor performances at the Grand Slam came as a great surprise and dims my enthusiasm about his chances. He doesn’t have good tournament record. Only twice has he gone beyond the third round and a semi-final in 2016 is his best result.

Recent Form

In terms of recent form there are a few names that stand out. The most obvious is Jose de Sousa. Winner of the Grand Slam on Tuesday, he was runner up in PC22 and PC20, a semi-finalist in PC19, all in the recent Winter Series. He won the European Darts Grand Prix in mid-October and he is THE form player. The question is, will he suffer mental let down? De Sousa has won the biggest tournament of his life and is expected to turn out three days later and win another seven matches in three days if he is to go back to back.

The man he beat in the final, James Wade (29.00), has also been in good form. He looked a bit flat in the final on Tuesday, he still averaged 94, but that wasn’t anywhere near enough against the heavy scoring of De Sousa. He was also runner up in the European Championship and he won PC12 at the Summer Series. It is two years since he last won a major and while he is hard to beat, there are just so many players that can score very heavily that Wade finds himself out gunned from time to time. His best result in this event was a semi-final way back in 2009.

Double Trouble For Bully Boy

Michael Smith (17.00) won back to back players championship titles in the recent Winter Series. His confidence was sky high and he went into the Grand Slam primed to win. Unfortunately, his doubling demons returned. His confidence proved to be fragile and he lost a close quarter final match to De Sousa. He looked crest fallen after that and you have to wonder if he will ever win a major, such is the mental scarring of constant disappointment in the big events. Being in the quarter of death doesn’t help his chances.

Damon Heta (41.00) has been drawn in the second quarter which looks a little easier than the first. He faces an out of form Maik Kuivenhoven in the first round and his first big test should be Nathan Aspinall in the third round, but to win tournaments, you will have to beat tough opponents. The Aussie has the game to do it and he is in good form. He reached the quarter finals of the Grand Slam and gave Wade a good match, he was runner up in PC21 and won PC 15 in the Autumn Series. His scoring across the Winter Series was very good and he has the game to have big tournament.

Can Cullen Bounce Back?

Joe Cullen (67) was a selection for the Grand Slam, but he failed to get out of the group stage thanks to a brain fade against MVG. His form before that was good, having won PC23 less than two weeks ago and the International Darts Open in late October. He is hitting a lot of 180’s which I like. He shouldn’t be forgotten about, which the bookmakers seem to have done. Cullen has a decent draw, and he has a path to quarter final which looks better than many.

We must remember that we have just finished one major tournament, on Tuesday, at the same venue. The two day break is just enough time for the stage dressings to be changed from a Boylesports livery to a Ladbrokes one, get all the players in to the hotel and test for corona virus. There is not really much time for the players who reached the semi-finals to get away, out of the hotel, home for a brief visit and relax for a bit. Mental fatigue is going to be a big issue, ironically the most successful players are a bit handicapped by having to get back into action so soon.

Packed Schedule

The European Championship ended on the 1st November and since than we have had a World Cup in Austria which finished on the 8th November. The Winter Series started two days later, finished on the 14th and the Grand Slam started on the 16th, finishing on the 24th.

Some players have been couped up at the venue and adjoining hotel for nearly two weeks and that after shlepping around Europe for the euro tour events. They will be getting home sick, tired, jaded, bored shitless but expected to turn on their A game seven times in the next three days. The schedule isn’t really conducive to having players at their peak.

That might just open things up for a few outsiders to have a good run. Players who may be just be that bit fresher. Players that have had some time off, either not at the Grand Slam or were knocked out early. But they will still need to have shown some good form recently.

Glen Durrant (51.00), who was still getting over his bout of corona virus, was knocked out of the Grand Slam in the group phase. He was improving day by day and says he is feeling better now. He has had a week back home to have his fiftieth birthday and prepare for this weekend, and of course with one eye on the big one, the World Championship starting on the 15th December.

Durrant Will Be Fresh

Duzza will certainly be fresher than the likes of De Sousa, Wade, Aspinall and Whitlock. His recent form went out the window after winning the Premier League. That was another marathon session of darts and literally a few hours after lifting the trophy, he was in a cab, heading to Heathrow to fly to Germany for a euro tour event. He was knackered and got knocked out in the third round. He returned home and fell ill.

Durrant was properly sick and he had to miss the European Championship. He returned for the Winter Series but he was still recovering and he played rubbish. Duzza was still recovering at the Grand Slam but was a bit better. With another week’s recovery, he should be ready to rumble again. The bookmakers are pricing him up as if he is still sick.

Daryl Gurney (101.00) won this title two years ago, was a semi-finalist in 2015 and a quarter finalist in 2017. He did not qualify for the Grand Slam and has had the luxury of going home for ten days to recharge the batteries, relax and spend time with the family. I imagine many players will be quite jealous. His recent form hasn’t been good. He won nine matches in the Winter Series and reached the quarter final on the final day, losing 5-6 to eventual winner Joe Cullen.

Can Superchin Find Treble 20 Regularly?

If Superchin can click on the treble 20, and crucially win a difficult opening match against Callan Rydz, he has the ability to have good run, but it does all revolve around him hitting more maximums. To be fair there isn’t much to like about his form, but he is defending a lot of money and needs a good run. He has a good tournament record and best of all, he is refreshed. His odds are very generous as well.

Another Northern Irishman who makes some appeal is Brendan Dolan. His players championship form saw him end up eleventh on the OOM. He won fifteen matches in the Winter Series and he was hitting some big averages. There was ton plus when losing 5-6 to Superchin on PC23, a 104 when beating Jelle Klassen in PC21, a 102 in PC20 when beating Daryl Gurney 6-5 in PC20, a 101 in a 6-0 win over Damon Heta in PC19, a 104 against Kirk Shepard in PC19 and he made the semi-final that day. He played well in the World Cup and his form has been good for a while now. There was a semi-final in PC18 and he was runner up in PC7. He may not be able to win the tournament, but don’t be surprised to see a good run.

So where is the money going?

Of the favourites, there are some question marks over the big three who all disappointed in the Grand Slam and with them all at short odds, I am going elsewhere, looking at a few players at bigger odds.

Ante-Post 2020 Players Championships Finals Picks

2020 Players Championship Finals: 1 point e/w Damon Heta @ 41.00 generally available

2020 Players Championship Finals: 1 point e/w Joe Cullen @ 67.00 generally available

Players Championship Finals: 0.5 point e/w Daryl Gurney @ 101.00 with Skybet

2020 Players Championship Finals: 0.5 point Glen Durrant @ 51.00 with Betfair, Paddy Power, Betvictor

Selected matches will be posted on TXODDS app across the weekend.

-JamesPunt