2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy Preview and Tips

The Euro Tour is back! After what seems like years, the PDC European Tour resumes with a first ever visit to Hungary and the 2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy at the Budapest Sports Arena. 48 players will take part with the first round featuring 24 tour card qualifiers and 8 regional and local qualifiers.

The 16 seeded players enter at the second-round stage on Saturday and the tournament finishes on Sunday evening. All matches will be streamed on PDCTV. There is one more Euro Tour event scheduled for Gibraltar at the end of the month before top 32 players on the Euro Tour OOM compete for the European Championship in Salzburg in mid-October.

The pressure to qualify is on from the get go with just these two Euro Tour events confirmed. There were three qualifying events held last month but the third Euro Tour event is still to be confirmed and with the Finals starting on October 14th there appears to be no time to fit in a third event in what is going to be a frantic darting schedule coming up. After a bit of a drought for darts fans and players alike, the next ten weeks will see an event of some description being played. The seeded players get two cracks of the whip, but for most others, they have just one event to try and qualify for a major championship.

2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy: Top 16 Seeds

1 Joe Cullen

The Rockstar was on fire earlier in season and his 2021 win rate is 71%. However, that fire has been quenched more recently and he has won just four of his last ten matches. Off oche matter have distracted him and his game has suffered. It is hard to tell where his head is at the moment and only time will tell.

2 Jose de Sousa

The Special One has picked up three players championship titles in 2021, is averaging 99 and has a win rate of 72%. His most recent form sees six wins from his last ten. He has to be one of the favourites to win anything he enters these days.

3 Peter Wright

Snakebite has solid claims to be the called the best player in the world on recent form. He has won four players championship titles in 2021 and the World Matchplay title. He has lost just one of his last ten matches and his scoring has been very high and very consistent. Wright hasn’t won on the European Tour since 2017 (when he won five titles) but he has to be the favourite to win this weekend. His 2021 win rate is 74% and his seasonal average is 99.

4 Michael van Gerwen

The former world number one player continues to score well but he has lost his consistency and a fair bit of his confidence. MVG has not picked up a title of any description since winning the Players Championship finals last November. A nine month win drought for MVG seemed unthinkable this time last year, but the competition has got better and that, combined with his loss of confidence means he is no longer the favourite. His win rate is a healthy 70% and average in 2021 is 99. Very good, but no longer the best. MVG has won six of his last ten.

5 Gerwen Price

Officially the best player in the world and current World Champion, The Iceman has picked up two players championship titles in 2021, is averaging 99 with a win rate of 79%. He has won eight of his last ten matches and very much one of the likely winners.

6 Michael Smith

Smith may not have won a televised major, but he has won four euro tour titles. The last was back in 2017 however and he continues to be the best player in the world who rarely wins. He has picked up a players championship title in 2021, is averaging 97 with a win rate of 72%. He has won six of his last ten and while he belongs at the top table of the most talented players there is, he finds winning harder than most.

7 Jonny Clayton

The 2021 Premier League Champion. I shall never tire of writing that. It brings a warm glow to my wallet. The Ferret has established himself as an elite player and has won two players championship titles in 2021 to go with his Masters and Premier League titles. His win rate in 2021 is 77%, he is averaging 99 and has won eight of his last ten matches. He was runner up to Peter Wright in the last players championship event of the season and his form remains very strong. A definite contender.

8 James Wade

The 2021 UK Open winner has not added a title to his collection since then but his 2021 win rate is 69%, seasonal average is 96 an he has won seven of his last ten. The only thing that separates Wade from the very top players, is his consistency. He throws in too many poor performances, sub 90 averages, and eventually he gets found out. His motivation can be lacking at times, and he is a risky player to back as a result. He hasn’t won on the euro tour since 2016.

9 Devon Petersen

Ninth seed? Really? Petersen isn’t the player he was 12 months ago. He has won just four of his last ten matches and in those ten, only once did he average above 90. Out of form and easily opposed.

10 Krzysztof Ratajski

The Polish Eagle has won on the Challenge Tour, the Pro Tour and the Euro Tour. His hasn’t picked up a title in 2021 but he is starting to improve his stage form and his major form has seen two quarter finals and semi-final in the last three. He reached the semi-final of the penultimate players championship a month ago, has won six of his last ten but is seasonal win rate is just 59%. Ratajski can’t be ruled out, but he lost his last three matches by big margins and it is hard to say what kind of form he is in.

11 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Another players championship title winner in 2021 but his most recent form has been poor. He is averaging 96 in 2021 with a win rate of 66% but he has won just two of his last ten matches and he is not the player who reached back-to-back players championship finals in April.

12 Damon Heta

The Heat may be feeling out of sorts after the death of his friend and fellow countryman Kyle Anderson last week. It was a shock for everyone, but it will be felt more by those who knew him well and Damon was one of them. Like Anderson, Heta has upper sticks from Perth, Australia, to make his way as a professional darts player. He has won two PDC titles but hasn’t added to them in 2021, despite two players championship finals, including PC 21 last month. He is averaging 96, has a win rate of 65% and won seven of his last ten.

Danny Noppert

Noppert’s sole PDC title came back in 2017 and he has become something of a journey man pro. He plays to a good standard but doesn’t win titles. He is averaging 96 in 2021 with a win rate of 65% but has won just five of his last ten. – Late news– Noppert has withdrawn and Rob Cross is now the sixteenth seed while William O’Connor gets a bye into the second round.

13 Brendan Dolan

The History Makers resurgence continues and his reward his to be a seeded player on the Euro tour, straight through to the second round and into the money. Dolan is averaging 96 in 2021, has a win rate of 71%, won a players championship title earlier in the year. Winning just five of his last ten is not inspiring, but he remains a very much underrated player.

14 Mensur Suljovic

It is an indication of how seldom Suljovic plays darts these days that I had to check how to spell his name. He has played just 36 matches in 2021 and we have not seen him throw a dart since the end of April. He has no current form to speak of, is bound to be very rusty and it would be have been no surprise if he had pulled out but he will compete.

15 Nathan Aspinall

No titles for The Asp in 2021 is a bit worrying. He won 21 over from 2017 to 2020, so he has been a fairly prolific winner. His win rate in 2021 is 59%, down from 69% in 2019 and 2020. His seasonal average 95 and he has won five of his last ten.

16 Rob Cross

Rob Cross is harder to assess. He still has the game to win titles but is finding rebuilding his confidence harder than rebuilding his game. If he can get a title under his belt, I can see him getting back to the top rank, but he is still looking for that final bit of the jigsaw. It is over two years since his last title but his win rate this year is 61%, up from 55% last year, but still shy of the 69% in 2018. He is heading in the right direction and is worth keeping an eye on.

Selected Non-Seeded Players

The non-seeded players are an eclectic mix of newbies and old hands trying to hang on to sliding OOM rankings. We have a former world champion, Adrian Lewis and two time major winner Daryl Gurney all entering at the first round stage. Joining them are the experienced Simon Whitlock, Steve Beaton, Keegan Brown, Darren Webster, Vincent van der Voort, William O’Connor and Ross Smith. There are some exciting youngsters such as Keane Barry, Lewy Williams and William Borland as well as the local and regional qualifiers who are by and large making up the numbers.

Ross Smith picked up his first pro tour title, PC19, in July. He was playing very well around that time, and he is a streaky player who has hot streaks followed by pretty ordinary stuff. He has lost six of his last ten matches which suggest that hot streak is over for now.

Williams One To Watch

Lewy Williams is a young Welsh player who won his tour card in January. He had made a good impression at the 2020 UK Open reaching the last 64 and beating a certain Jose de Sousa along the way. He is still playing on the Development tour but he has made a good impression on the pro tour, getting wins against MVG, Van den Bergh, Duijvenbode, Aspinall, De Sousa and Gurney. He reached the quarter final of PC21 last month and he is capable of hitting big numbers. He is a player that will be a tricky first round opponent.

Simon Whitlock can never be written off, but the fact is that his win rate is now just 53% and while he can still get good wins, winning titles would seem to be very unlikely. Vincent van der Voort is much the same, a dangerous opponent but not a tournament winner.

Superchin Needs Consistency

Daryl Gurney is in a similar position to Cross. Superchin was at his peak in 2017 with a win rate of 71% and contending in all the majors. He won majors in 2017 and 2018, was in the Premier League and had a pro tour and euro tour title in 2019. His win rate dropped to 57% in 2020 and while it has improved slightly to 59% a seasonal average of 94 is a few points short of where it needs to be if he is to get back into contending for titles again. He is still capable of big performances and big averages, but the consistency is not quite there. He has won seven of his last ten and will be a tough draw for someone in the first round.

Luke Humphries is maturing nicely. Still only 26, he has a lot of experience of big matches, and he looks ready to take the next step and start winning senior titles. He was runner up in this years UK Open and his 107 average when beating MVG in the semi-final tells us how good he can be. Humphries was runner up in PC6, PC9 and PC16. He reached the quarter final of PC23, the last event played in 2021 but it must be said that his scoring was poor that week, but he still won seven of his last ten. Cool hand is averaging 96 in 2021 with a win rate of 69%. He is a winner waiting to happen.

2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy: The Draw – 1st Quarter

Joe Cullen, Rob Cross, James Wade and Devon Petersen are the four seeds and none are in top form. Cullen’s recent form isn’t good, Devon Petersen hasn’t been playing well for a while now. James Wade could grind is his way through if he is in the mood. Rob Cross has been promoted to sixteenth seed and he joins the top quarter and he must have a decent chance of making progress. This quarter does look like gives a chance for one of the unseeded players to come through. The non seeds of interest are Ross Smith, William O’Connor who is straight through to the second round, Luke Humphries and Madars Razma.

Smith’s recent form has dipped, ditto O’Connor. Razma, who became a dad again recently, has been spending more time at home and most recently played a series of events on the PDC Nordic & Baltic tour, winning eight of his last ten and a couple of titles, but the standard was markedly lower than the regular pro tour. His form before that wasn’t great and it remains to be seen if that run of wins will have boosted his confidence.

Humphries Interesting

Luke Humphries is the interesting player here. With a healthy win rate in 2021 and winning seven of his last ten, Humphries is in good form. He is still titles at senior level but he is knocking on doors now and it is only a matter of time. He faces Razma in the first round and whilst Razma leads their H2H stats 3-2, Humphries has won two of the last three. The winner faces Devon Petersen in round two. A potential third round match with James Wade is winnable and then who knows.

2nd Quarter

The four seeds are Michael van Gerwen, Brendan Dolan, Gerwyn Price and Damon Heta and this looks a more competitive quarter. Dolan replaces Noppert in this quarter and that makes a tricky quarter look harder still. That said, Gerwyn Price is in better form and has the best win rate of anyone in the tournament never mind the quarter.

Of the non-seeds drawn into the quarter we have Daryl Gurney and Vincent van der Voort facing each other in round one this evening. The winner of that plays MVG and MVG will be hoping that his mate and practice partner can make it through. Superchin beat MVG on the pro tour recently, despite Van Gerwen averaging 112! Gurney has beaten Van der Voort in four of their last five meetings, so we may be treated to a Van Gerwen vs. Gurney second round match and it is 5-5 over their last ten matches.

Tough Draw For Gurney

Rookie Scotsman, Alan Soutar faces a local qualifier in round one and is likely to face the in-form Brendan Dolan in round two. Could we have an all Northern Irish third round clash? If so, Gurney has to be fancied as he has a 11-3 H2H record and a recent 6-4 win over Dolan. It is a hard draw for Gurney, but it is not impossible to see him reaching the quarters, and then you are in the game.

We should see an emotional, all Aussie second round clash if Simon Whitlock can get past Darren Webster. He would then face Damon Heta in the second round. Gerwyn Price gets the winner of Veenstra vs. Keegan Brown and he should have few problems making the third round and he looks good for a quarter final berth.

3rd Quarter

Jose de Sousa, Nathan Aspinall, Jonny Clayton and Krzysztof Ratajski are the four seeds here and it looks a tough quarter. Clayton is the form player and has been for about a year now. His annual win rate is bettered only by Gerwyn Price and his record against De Sousa is very good but he is only 2-2 with Ratajski.

The non-seeded players in this quarter includes Adrian Lewis and the promising Lewy Williams but none are in great form and a De Sousa vs. Clayton quarter final looks reasonably likely. Clayton has a good record against De Sousa and the Ferret is my call for the quarter final winner.

4th Quarter

My favourite to win the title, Peter Wright is joined by Michael Smith, Mensur Suljovic and Dirk van Duijvenbode as the four seeds. Wright is in excellent form, winning thirteen of his last fourteen matches and has picked up five titles in 2021. He wants to be the world number one by the end of the year and is going about it the right way. A Smith vs. Wright quarter final looks likely and Snakebite has won their last four H2H’s.

2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy: Ante Post Selections

2 points Peter Wright to win the 2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy @ 5.50 with Boylesports

1 point Jonny Clayton to win the 2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy @ 13.00 generally available

0.5 point e/w Luke Humphries to win the 2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy @ 51.00 with Hills, Boylesports, Betfair

0.5 point e/w Daryl Gurney to win the 2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy @ 81.00 with Ladbrokes

I will be covering as many of the sessions as possible this weekend, but as it clashes with the Dutch GP, it may not be possible to provide full coverage.

-JamesPunt