2021 Nordic Darts Masters Tips by James Punt
2021 Nordic Darts Masters Preview
The 2021 Nordic Darts Masters will be the only event played in this year’s World Series. Usually we have events in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Germany but the Pandemic has meant they have been cancelled once again. There will be a tour card holder qualifying event in Barnsley next month before the World Series Finals in Amsterdam at the end of October.
These World Series events were designed as exhibition tournaments, taken around the world to spread the sport globally rather than just its European heartland. They are non-counting for the order of merit as they are invitational events, featuring some of the big names of the game playing against local qualifiers. The events in Australia and New Zealand were always worth watching as they had a more competitive feel about them. We even saw a local qualifier, Damon Heta, go all the way and win one a couple of years ago.
Uninspiring
This weekend’s event is less inspiring. The PDC pros are Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen, Dimitri van den Bergh, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall, Jonny Clayton and Fallon Sherrock. Notable ‘local’ qualifiers are Madars Razma, Darius Labanauskas, Marko Katele and Daniel Larsson.
We are now getting close to a year since Michael van Gerwen last won a tournament, but this might be his best chance, given the small field, weaker opposition and the fact that only four match wins are needed to win the tournament. However, he is not the favourite to do so.
2021 Nordic Darts Masters: PDC Invites, odds and form
Gerwyn Price – 3.20
Price lost his semi-final match against John Henderson in the World Cup, but he has won eight of his last ten matches, won the recent Hungarian Darts Trophy and PC 21 last month. He is the reigning World Series Champion having won the finals event in 2020.
Peter Wright – 4.75
Fresh from winning the World Cup with John Henderson last week, Wright comes here in fine fettle and good form, winning eight of his last ten. Winning the World Cup will put a smile on his face, and he is arguably THE form player in the field. He has won 41 of his last 50 singles matches, a phenomenal strike rate.
Michael van Gerwen – 5.50
The World Cup was another disappointment for MVG. He was up against it, his form isn’t great and his teammate, Dirk van Duijvenbode, is struggling even more. MVG has won the World Series of Darts Finals four times and these events were nice little earners, paid holidays around the globe in effect.
Now that he has lost the winning habit, this is more important, he needs to win something soon and this will do. His recent form sees six wins from ten matches which is OK, but not great. There is little wrong with his scoring but clearly, he is struggling for confidence, the ability to convert good scoring into wins.
Dimitri van den Bergh – 8.00
Dimitri lost his only singles match at the World, averaging just 78 against Rowby-John Rodriguez. He has lost four of his last ten matches. His scoring has by and large remained strong but his win rate is a little disappointing.
Gary Anderson – 15.00
Unable or unwilling to travel to Germany for the World Cup last week, Gary Anderson is set to make it Denmark for this low status event. He has won six World Series events in the past but none since 2018. I can only guess that he likes his paid holidays and is gracing this event to stay onboard the gravy train. Hardly the best motivation.
Anderson skipped the last block of players championship tournaments and has not played competitively for two months. He lost five of his last ten matches and his scoring had been off before he decided to take a break.
Nathan Aspinall – 17.00
The Asp continues to struggle to find his best form and has lost five of his last ten matches. He is scoring a ton one match and sub 90 in the next and this is making it hard for him to string a good run of matches together.
Jonny Clayton – 13.00
Clayton isn’t quite at the top of his game right now. His checkout % has been very low in some recent matches which is holding him back. There is nothing terribly wrong and his scoring is generally very good, but he is not quite at the level he was at in the first half of the season. His win rate in his last 50 matches is 74% which is very good, but it was over 80% before the Premier League. He is still playing well enough to win, but his odds are a fair reflection of his chances.
Fallon Sherrock – 201.00
Sherrock was selected to be a big selling point for the World Series on the back of her winning two matches at the 2020 World Championship. She was front page news on the back of that the PDC were keen to cash in. Sadly, that idea was dashed by the pandemic and Sherrock’s profile has diminished in the intervening months. She failed to win a tour card in 2020 and 2021 and has been playing on the Challenge Tour, the Women’s Series and a few bigger events, notably the UK Open where she lost 1-6 in the first round to Kyle McKinstry.
Sherrock got an invite to be a Challenger in the Premier League, drawing 6-6 with Glen Durrant. She got an invite to play in the finals of the World Series last year, losing 5-6 to Jeff Smith. Fallon has won six of her last ten matches on the Challenge Tour. Sherrock can play and has her moments, but the fact is that her seasonal average is 84. Some male opponents do feel under pressure when they play her, but she is up against some of the elite players here.
2021 Nordic Darts Masters: Qualifiers
There are one or two ‘local’ players who might win a game or two.
Darius Labanauskas is a tour card holder, a steady sort who enjoys the spotlight and playing the big names. He beat Jonny Clayton at the World Cup last week and has won seven of his last ten matches although most of those where at Nordic Baltic Tour level. He is not a heavy scorer, averaging 91.8 in 2021 but his win rate is a very respectable 60%. Labanauskas makes the most of his talent. He faces MVG in the first round, a player who he has beaten once in 2021.
Razma Has Experience
Madars Razma is another tour card holder who has plenty of experience of playing the big names. He has won seven of his last ten matches but nine of those were Nordic Baltic Tour matches. He had been struggling on the pro tour before that losing five consecutive players championship matches and lost his first round match at the recent euro tour event.
Daniel Larsson, another tour card holder, represented Sweden in the World Cup but they lost 1-5 to the USA in round 1. He has won just one of twelve players championship matches in 2021 and that was against the out of form Glen Durrant. He is averaging 87 and while he has the odd strong match, his scoring is not going to cut it at pro tour level.
Marko Kantele played for Finland at the World Cup hitting the bullseye to stop Wales winning 5-0 (and losing us a nice 3.40 winner). Finland still lost and his scoring, averaging 83 in 2021, isn’t up to much.
Ordinary Average
Niels Heinsøe is the second highest ranked Danish player on the Nordic Baltic tour, but he is averaging just 78. He faces Fallon Sherrock in round one, which is nice for Sherrock and she will be the favourite to win that, having beaten Heinsøe 5-2 in their only previous meeting. The top ranked Dane is Andreas Toft Jørgensen. He beat Darius Labanauskas in a Nordic Baltic tour final last month but he has won just three of his last ten matches and is averaging 78 in 2021. The final local Danish player in the tournament is Ivan Springborg who plays on the European Challenge tour, averaging 75.3 and losing his last six matches.
Sweden’s Johan Engström played in the recent Hungarian Darts Trophy, losing 4-6 to William Borland in the first round. He averages 82.5 on the Nordic Baltic Tour and European Challenge Tour.
2021 Nordic Darts Masters: Ante Post Selections
This tournament only lasts two days. The first round, best of eleven leg matches on Friday night, with the quarters, semis (both best of 19 legs) and final (best of 21) all played on Saturday.
Gerwyn Price could win the first quarter playing with two darts. He is likely to face Fallon Sherrock in the second round and his record against ladies shows unusually weak scoring, but he should win through.
The second quarter should be the winner of Van den Bergh vs. Gary Anderson. That is a hard match to call. Dimitri’s most recent form is a bit iffy, and we haven’t seen Anderson for two months. It isn’t the worst draw for either player.
The third quarter features Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton. They should meet in the second round and would be their fifth match in 2021. Wright has won the last two with a PL draw and Clayton got his win at The Masters. They have been close matches with a total leg score of 32-29 to Peter Wright.
The fourth quarter is by far the most competitive. The two big names are MVG and Aspinall who face Labanauskas and Razma respectively. Make no mistake, those are potential banana skins for Van Gerwen and Aspinall. Neither are at the top of their game and they have drawn the two best ‘local’ players.
Van Gerwen is 3-1 against Labanauskas but it was Lucky D who won their only match this year, a 6-3 win in a PC event in February. Aspinall and Razma have met twice with one win each. If the two star players do progress it will be an interesting match, Their H2H record is 7-5 to MVG and in 2021 it is one win each and a draw.
Nice Draw For Price
Overall, the draw looks good for Gerwyn Price. He has a clear path to the semi-final and should face Van den Bergh or Anderson and his recent record against both is generally good.
The bottom half of the draw is tougher. Peter Wright is the form player in it, but Jonny Clayton is no pushover. That said Clayton has looked a bit wobbly of late while Wright remains a winning machine. Wright has won four of his last six matches vs. MVG but he has a poor record against Nathan Aspinall, losing seven of their eleven matches, including the last three.
Gerwyn Price is the 3.20 favourite. He has the best draw, is in good form and is the world number 1. The bottom half for the draw is tougher and whoever comes through that will have earned their place in the final. Peter Wright is my fancy to come through. His win rate is excellent, and he should be in a positive frame of mind after that World Cup last weekend. That said, it is not an easy path to the final.
Asp A Dark Horse
If there is a dark horse in the tournament it could be Nathan Aspinall at 17.00. He has one of the toughest draws, but his H2H form against MVG and Peter Wright suggests it would not be a surprise to see him beat both. If he did reach the final and Gerwyn Price, he has won three of their last four matches. However, his recent form suggests winning four matches in a row is beyond him.
It is a bit boring, But Gerwyn Price has to be the selection. He was very impressive in the semi-final and final of the Hungarian Darts Masters two weeks ago, putting some average performances behind him and finding top gear when it mattered.
