2022 Dutch Darts Championship Preview – JP
2022 Dutch Darts Championship Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2022 Dutch Darts Championship Preview:
The first and last time the Dutch Darts Championship was held was back in 2018, when Ian White beat Ricky Evans in the final.
This weekend we have no Jonny Clayton and last week’s winner and two time 2022 Euro tour winner, Luke Humphries has decided to take the week off for a much needed rest.
2022 Dutch Darts Championship: Top 16 Seeds
Gerwen Price
Not at his best these days. Winning five of his last ten matches and looking out of sorts. He has already won a euro tour title in 2022 and his place in the finals is assured. Hard to fancy.
Michael van Gerwen
Lost his opening match back in 2018 and like Price, he is not in great form. He has won three titles so far on this year’s euro tour, but his run of good form has dried up again. He has won five of his last ten matches but lost his last four matches in a row.
Peter Wright
Burst into top form last weekend after a spell in the wilderness. He averaged 101 across his four matches but found Humphries too good for him in the semi-final. He followed that good run up by losing his crucial premier league match vs. Joe Cullen last night. He didn’t play badly and was 80% on his doubles, but it was huge match, and big blow. He has won just three of his last thirteen matches and it is hard to say he is in good form, but he is not without a chance.
Ryan Searle
Suddenly up with the big boys in terms of his seeding. His recent form is not great with just five wins from his last ten. He has made just one quarter final in Europe in 2022 and gone out at the last 16 stage four times.
Jose de Sousa
Like Searle, De Sousa has won just five of his last ten matches. He reached the semi-final of the Czech Darts Open two weeks ago but went round in the second-round last weekend with just 17% on the doubles. Hard to fancy.
Rob Cross
Cross lost yet another euro tour final last weekend, again to Luke Humphries, and for the second weekend in a row. With Humphries not here this weekend, he must fancy his chances. He has won eight of his last ten matches, losing only to Cool Hand Luke. He is scoring well, checking out well and has every chance if fresh enough.
Joe Cullen
The Premier League has been his main focus for the last few months and his usually good euro tour form has suffered. He has played eleven matches and won just five. Overall his form is five wins from his last ten.
Damon Heta
I could just cut and paste what I say every week about Heta. One of the heaviest scorers out there but expensive to follow in terms of outright betting. He reached the semi-final last weekend but lost to Rob Cross. At least it ended a run of three opening match defeats. He has won seven of his last ten matches, has a win rate of 73% and really should be winning titles.
Michael Smith
Another Premier League player who may not have had his mind fully on the euro tour. He finally got his night win last night and avoided being the only player not to get a win across the 16 nights. It was of course, meaningless in terms of the premier league, but it clearly meant a lot to him, and he should be feeling a lot better for it. He has won six of his last ten matches and his prospects for this weekend are better than they looked 24 hours ago.
Nathan Aspinall
Ever since the Asp got the all clear injury wise, his form has dropped off. He has won just five of his last ten and after reaching the semi-final of his first two Euro tour events of the year, he went out in the quarter final of ET5 and the second round in ET6. He is not far off a good performance, but his game isn’t quite 100%.
Dimitri van den Bergh
Another of the played ten won five brigade. Was runner up to MVG is ET5 three weeks ago but has won just two from six matches since. He is having too many poor performances on the outer ring to think he can go all the way.
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk isn’t making the most of his euro tour appearances this year. Yes, he too has lost five of his last ten and he just isn’t quite stringing it all together. His form is OK, and he could have another decent run, but winning the whole thing? He has home support for once and maybe that can turbo charge his mind.
Krzysztof Ratajski
It happened again last weekend. The Polish Eagle averaged 106.39 against Rob Cross and lost 4-6. It doesn’t matter how well he plays, and he has been playing great, he still loses. His opponents just raise their game to their best against him. He has lost five of his last ten, but if he gets a break or two, he could have a good run. The curse can’t last forever, can it?
Martin Schindler
Sadly, his good performance last weekend means we are unlikely to be getting 101.00 about him anymore. Schindy reached the quarter finals on Sunday and lost by the narrowest of margins, 5-6 to Damon Heta. It was good tournament from Schindler as he showed great fighting spirit and he wants to win one of these badly, and he might well do. He too has won five of his last ten matches but is playing better than that suggests.
Brendan Dolan
Has only won three of his nine euro tour matches in 2022. He made the quarter final last weekend but was totally out classed by Luke Humphries who beat him 6-0.
Chris Dobey
Promoted to a seeded player with Humphries withdrawal. Dobey is one of darts great underachievers. A heavy scorer, very talented, but doesn’t win enough. He has won seven of his last ten matches, which is a lot better than most here this weekend, but his best run in 2022 is a solitary players championship quarter final at the start of last month.
Notable Non-Seeded Players
Callan Rydz
Went into last weekend’s event on the back of 11 ton plus averages from 12 matches and flopped. He lost 4-6 to Jelle Klassen and averaged just 87.48. He doesn’t have a great euro tour pedigree, but he won two players championship events last year and he needs to start doing better on stage to realise his great potential. Must be respected.
Ross Smith
Reached the quarter finals two weeks ago, going out to Rob Cross 4-6. Not quite at the top of his game but still a dangerous opponent.
Madars Razma
Has a healthy 65% win rate in 2022 and won six of his ten Euro Tour matches in 2022. Not the heaviest of scorers, but he is effective and gets the most from his game.
Jamie Hughes
Another player to have won seven of his last ten matches and has been putting in some strong performances. He needs to string a few runs together to get the winning habit ingrained, but certainly heading in the right direction. A good run would not be a surprise. Yozza is a former euro tour winner, so he knows that he can do it.
Andrew Gilding
Reached the third round last weekend, going out tamely to Brendan Dolan. He has won seven of his last ten and has been playing well for a while. He isn’t going to win it, but he will be a dangerous opponent.
Danny Noppert
Gets in as the highest ranked non-seeded Dutchman and he is worthy of seeded status. A major winner in 2022 and he is maturing nicely as a player. We backed him last week and he played well, reaching the quarter final, averaged 104, but lost to Peter Wright who averaged 111. He had three ton plus averages in his four matches and he is a potential winner. He was runner up in ET4 four weeks ago and is one of the form players despite not being seeded.
Vincent van der Voort
Reached the semi-final two weeks ago. He would be a very unlikely winner, but remains a difficult opponent.
The Draw
It is interesting to run through the form of the seeded players, those that get a bye into round two and would only have to win five matches to win. The vast majority have only won five of their last ten and getting a run of five looks to be a challenge for them. Many of the unseeded players are in better form but there are few players who leap of the page as obvious choices.
All seven of the Euro Tour events in 2022 have been won by a seeded player and only two non-seeds have made a final, Martin Lukeman and Danny Noppert.
As usual, it is worth looking at the draw quarters to see if the field can be narrowed down.
First Quarter
Gerwyn Price tops the seeds in the first quarter, joined by Chris Dobey, Damon Heta and Michael Smith. Dobey is an unlikely winner, Price is not in good form, Heta could but probably won’t, which leaves Michael Smith. Buoyed by his win last night and now freed from the weekly premier league routine, Smith might just have a good run. Finals are always a worry however and he hasn’t won on the Euro Tour since 2017.
Second Quarter
The second quarter has Ryan Searle as the top seed, along with Ratajski, De Sousa and Van Duijvenbode. Ratajski interests me. He is playing as well as any in the quarter but can’t buy a win. However, that won’t last for ever and he is due a break or seven. The other seeds have question marks over their form but I like Dirk’s draw. He looks to have a path to the quarters and could have a good run, but can he win five in a row?
Third Quarter
In the third quarter Michael van Gerwen has a reasonable path to the quarters although I would like to see how an in-form Rydz would fare against him. Van Gerwen is the 5.00 tournament favourite and given his recent form is poor value. The bottom half of the third quarter features Aspinall and Cullen. Cullen is fresh from his big win last night and Aspinall is a potential winner, if not totally convincing. There are dangerous non-seeds in the shape of Jamie Hughes, and Rydz in this quarter and either could have good run.
Fourth Quarter
The final quarter is topped by the unpredictable Peter Wright. His last Euro Tour title came back in 2017 and he is finding winning titles more difficult right now. The other seeds are Schindler, Cross and Van den Bergh. Schindler is knocking on the door and is a best price 81.00 but Rob Cross remains backable at 15.00. He has been runner up for the last two weeks and while he will be frustrated not to have picked up a win there is nothing wrong with his game. Danny Noppert in one of the unseeded and his form means he has to be backed.
