2022 Austrian Darts Open Preview and Tips – JP
2022 Austrian Darts Open Preview
James Wade came out on top at the Premier League of Darts last night. It was a stunning performance by The Machine, can he keep the momentum going at the 2022 Austrian Darts Open? Find out who James Punt is backing for victory below.
The Austrian Darts Open was last held in 2019 when Michael van Gerwen beat Ian White 8-7 in the final, to win his third Austrian Darts Open. Jonny Clayton is the only other past winner in the field.
As usual on the Euro Tour, we have 48 players, 16 of whom are seeded and enter the tournament at the second-round stage. The remaining 32 are drawn to the play the first-round matches on Friday.
Seeded Players
Gerwyn Price
Continues to play below his best. He is getting over his hand injury but has also complained of ‘burn out’ thanks to, in part, the new Premier League format. It was somewhat ironic that he said this after playing in an exhibition event. He has lost six of his last ten matches and is just a little flat.
Peter Wright
Another one of the Big Beasts of the oche who is out of form. He has lost seven of his last ten matches and is hard to fancy as a result.
Jose de Sousa
Yes, another player who has not been at his best for some time. He has won six of his last ten and we sometimes get a glimpse of his A game, but he is not the player he was.
Joe Cullen
A two-time semi-finalist in this event. Cullen has lost six of his last ten, lost four in a row and he is not at the top of his game. He was very poor in Thursday night’s Premier League, averaging just 81 and losing to an under par Gerwyn Price, who was there for the taking. Normally a Euro Tour specialist, this year Cullen has played five euro tour matches and won just two matches, failing to progress beyond the third round. It looks to me like the schedule of the Premier League, on top of all the other events, is taking a toll.
Michael van Gerwen
Playing at near the top of his game but struggling to dominate as he once did. The fact that he lost the semi-final of the German Darts Grand Prix 0-7 to Luke Humphries a couple of weeks ago, sums it up. The competition no longer fears him, and many players now relish the chance to beat him. Van Gerwen has lost five of his last ten matches.
Ryan Searle
One of the top players these days and a heavy scorer. He has been improving year by year for some time now, but his record on the Euro Tour should be better for a player of his ability. He wins plenty of matches, has won seven of his last ten and could have good run, but he is getting expensive to follow on the Euro Tour.
Dimitri van den Bergh
Struggling for form and has lost five of his last ten matches.
Luke Humphries
It is looking that 2022 is indeed Humphries breakthrough year. He won PC1 but then sort of drifted, but he won his second senior PDC and his first Euro Tour title two weeks ago. He has won eight of his last ten matches. While it may be asking a lot to go back-to-back, he is one of the form players and must be on the shortlist.
Brendan Dolan
Another player who has no great Euro Tour pedigree.
Rob Cross
Continues to win plenty of matches and have good runs but is finding winning titles very difficult. He is hard to place in terms of his value, he is a potential winner, but his odds tend to overrate him.
Damon Heta
Looked like he was in with a great chance to win the German Darts Grand Prix for us two weeks ago. He came up short in the semi-final however, but he continues to win a lot of matches and is the winning most player in the tournament at senior level (75% in 2022). Live chance.
Jonny Clayton
Rarely not in good form and he is on the short list for any tournament he enters, but he hasn’t picked up a title for six months and his odds are thin on value. He has won seven of his last ten matches and averaged 102 across his three PL matches on Thursday night. Big claims.
Dirk van Duijvenbode
One of our selections last time out but he lost out to surprise package, Wesley Plaisier in the third round. It was a match Dirk should have won, but he got very frustrated and that is a problem for him. A bit too hard on himself at times. However, he has won eight of his last ten matches and must be shortlisted once again. It must be said that his doubling needs to be better if he is going to be able to win the title.
James Wade
A former runner up in this event but Wade doesn’t have a great Euro Tour record and more importantly his win rate in 2022 is just 56%. He always strikes me as someone who is likely to come up short at some point. He has won seven of his last ten matches and won the night in the PL on Thursday, surviving match darts against him to beat Jonny Clayton in the final. The Machine seems to be enjoying himself and his 114.7 average against Gerwyn Price last night was his highest ever in a televised match.
Krzysztof Ratajski
He’s been off the scene for a few weeks, and he hasn’t been in great form for a while, losing five of his last ten matches.
Nathan Aspinall
Too badly injured to practice, needs surgery, has been advised to give darts a rest. The injury is so bad, Aspinall has won eight of his last ten matches, won PC13, was runner up in PC11 and a quarter finalist in PC10. His win rate in this injury ravaged season is 74%, bettered only by Damon Heta. Aspinall has been told by his specialist that he will not require surgery and that his tendon injury is healing. He is a much happier bunny and raring to go. The Asp has yet to taste Euro Tour glory, but he must be considered a potential winner.
2022 Austrian Darts Open: Notable Non-Seeded Players
Matt Campbell
Runner up to Nathan Aspinall in the last players championship event and has won seven of his last ten. The Canadian is a talented player and finding his feet on the pro tour. Probably lacks the consistency to have a big run but will be an awkward opponent.
Josh Rock
The next big thing in Northern Irish darts and maybe the next big thing in darts. Won his tour card in January and already has a seasonal average of 95, the 20th highest on the tour. He still plays on the Development Tour, and he has found winning at senior level difficult, but he has now reached two players championship quarter finals. He is a player with a great future once he gets the consistency to match his heavy scoring.
Danny Noppert
The winner of the first major of 2022, the UK Open. Noppert has won six of his last ten matches and since winning the UK Open back in early March, Noppert has reached two players championship semi-finals and his seasonal win rate is 73%. However, he has only won two PDC titles in four years on tour. Now that he is a father, this may be the year that Noppert kicks on and starts winning more regularly.
Danny Jansen
Another pro tour rookie making an impression. Jansen won PC9 at the start of this month, beating O’Connor, Wright, Ratajski, Dobey and Chisnall, before overcoming the weirdness that is Andrew Gilding in the final. That might be him for the season but winning a players championship title in the first four months of getting a tour card is a bit special. He lacks consistency and can be anything from a mid-70 to a ton plus hitter.
Jim Williams
Another tour rookie to have picked up a players championship title in his first few months on tour. Obviously, Williams was a big fish in the BDO pond before getting is tour card and he is an experienced player, but this is a higher level. His seasonal average is 94.7 and he has a win rate of 65%. He has lost five of his last ten matches, so a big run here looks unlikely.
Wesley Plaisier
Reached the quarter final of the German Darts Grand Prix two weeks ago, beating Jim Williams, Joe Cullen and Dirk van Duijvenbode before taking eventual champion, Luke Humphries, to a deciding leg. He will be full of confidence and since that quarter final he played in the Associate Tour European qualifiers, winning twenty of his twenty five matches.
2022 Austrian Darts Open: The Draw
First Quarter
Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall, Luke Humphries and Brendan Dolan are the four seeds, and three of them can be considered and potential tournament winners. With Price not at the top of his game right now, Aspinall and Humphries may face off for a place in the semi-finals.
Second Quarter
The four seeded players are Joe Cullen, Dirk van Duijvenbode, MVG and Jonny Clayton. Another hard quarter to win. Van Duijvenbode and Clayton are perhaps the two in the best form, but MVG is always a threat and Cullen is a Euro Tour specialist but looks to have run out of gas.
Third Quarter
This looks a lot more winnable, with the four seeds being Peter Wright, Krzysztof Ratajski, Dimitri van den Bergh and Rob Cross. Wright, Ratajski and Van den Bergh are not in good form and Cross is not at the top of his game either. I’d say Rob Cross has a decent chance to make the semi-finals, but is the tournament winner in this quarter? It doesn’t look likely, but somebody in the quarter will be a semi-finalist and then who knows.
Fourth Quarter
De Sousa, Wade, Searle and Heta are the four seeds. Searle, Heta and Wade are in better form than De Sousa. Heta hasn’t won as many tournaments as he probably should have, but he is one of the most consistent players of 2022 and surely his time for winning on the Euro Tour is coming soon.
Premier League Problems
The last Euro Tour event was won by Luke Humphries, who beat Wesley Plaisier in the final. Plaisier was one of the rare unseeded players to make it all the way to the final. Humphries is not playing Premier League darts and perhaps his lighter schedule helped him to win his first Euro Tour title?
The first two Euro Tour events were won by Price and MVG, but the cumulative effect of having to travel all over the place every Thursday and then straight off to play in these intense events looks to be taking its toll on some. Price has cited it as one reason for his flat form and Cullen has commented on how little time he is able to spend at home.
That said, they are in the PL because they are the best players, but playing in the PL, with three matches for Wade and Clayton, on Thursday night, spending Friday travelling from Dublin to Premstätten in Austria, before playing up to five matches in two days, is testing.
Players like Humphries, Heta, Searle, Van Duijvenbode and Aspinall are all in great form and will arrive well rested and raring to go. For that reason, I am going for three selections who are not PL players. I will add Jonny Clayton to the list as he is just such a consistent player and a past winner.
