2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Preview – JP
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday preview. He fired in three winners from four tips last night, fingers crossed for more of the same.
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Dom Taylor
Taylor beat a local qualifier 6-0 yesterday, averaging 100 on his Euro Tour debut. If he can keep that up, he has every chance to make the final day. Taylor has won seven of his last ten matches. He has been putting a lot of strong performances, eight 95+ averages in those last ten.
Ratajski, on the other hand, has lost seven of his last ten matches, but he is playing better than that sounds. However, losing can become a habit and it does nothing for confidence. One of his recent defeats was to Dom Taylor, a 2-6 defeat in PC6. Ratajski averaged 96.59 that day, so it wasn’t a bad performance, but Taylor averaged 104 .78.
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Tip: 1 point Dom Taylor to win @ 2.37 with SpreadEx, Hills
Danny Noppert vs. Wessel Nijman
Nijman lived up to this reputation as a power scorer when hitting six 180s in his 6-5 win over Romeo Grbavac. The Croat only averaged just 86 yet took it all the way.
Nijman has won eight of his last ten matches and his A game is top class, but he is young, lacks experience and has struggled against the top players.
Danny Noppert can be considered to be a top player, not quite an elite player, but he is a top ranked player. Noppert has won eight of his last ten matches and won PC8 earlier this month. Noppert has won all four of his last 32 stage matches on the Euro Tour this season. Three required a deciding leg, the other was 6-4.
Noppert is the 1.53 favourite, Nijman 2.63. I expect Noppert to win, but he may find it hard. Nijman is in the same group of youngsters coming through as Gian van Veen and Luke Littler.
He lost 5-6 to Gian van Veen in the World Youth Championship, averaging 102. Noppert needed a deciding leg to beat Gian a couple of weeks ago. I will take a chance on another close match, but just back total legs, as this could still go either way.
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 with Boylesports
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Ritchie Edhouse
Madhouse racked up his sixth Euro Tour match win of the season when beating Arron Monk 6-4 yesterday. It was a solid job, a 93.45 average, and shows that he is comfortable up on the Euro stage, winning matches he may have lost this time last year.
Dirk is in woeful form. The Dutchman has lost six of his last ten matches, including a 1-6 defeat to Edhouse this time last week. Dirk averaged just 85.52 in that match, and he has been struggling to hit 90+ averages in his most recent matches. This will be his fifth Euro Tour match of the year, and he has not won one yet.
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Tip: 1 point Ritchie Edhouse to win @ 1.91 with Hills, BET365
Stepehen Bunting vs. Richard Veenstra
Veenstra just about edged out Ricky Evans, surviving a match dart against him, to win 6-5. It was a good performance and a good match. Veenstra hit five maximums and averaged 97.24. That is what he can do, but Mr. Consistency he is not.
He has won six of his last ten matches and made it to the final day for the first time on the Euro Tour last weekend. That may give him a bit more self-belief.
He now faces and in-form Stepehen Bunting. The Bullet has won seven of his last ten matches. He has won eight matches on the Euro Tour in 2024, reach the quarter-final of ET1 and the semi-final of ET3 a couple of weeks ago.
These two have met twice, winning one each, both last year. Bunting is the 1.44 favourite, Veenstra 3.00 and I am not arguing with those odds. No bet.
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Tip: No Bet
Ryan Searle vs. Gian van Veen
Gian was a convincing 6-1 winner over a very poor Jose de Sousa last night. Van Veen didn’t need to get into second gear and he will need to get going here.
Searle has started to play more like his floor game on the Euro Tour. Fewer early exits and he has reached two quarter finals. He did get knocked out at this stage last weekend, but he averaged 102 when losing 5-6 to Bunting. He has won seven of his last ten matches, one of which was a 6-4 win over Van Veen in PC7.
Searle is the 1.80 favourite, Van Veen 2.10. Again, the odds look about right and as we are on Van Veen for the title, I’ll sit this one out.
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Tip: No Bet
Joe Cullen vs. Darius Labanauskas
Lucky D beat his friend, Madars Razma 6-4 in a poor match yesterday. Labanauskas averaged just 87 and it was just two players playing poorly. One of them had to win.
Cullen was one of the lucky players to get bumped up to seeded status after the two withdrawals. He is not in good form, losing six of his last ten matches and the last four in a row. He is very hard to get to terms with as he can be averaging a ton plus in one game and 82 in the next, as he did in ET1.
Cullen has played well in this tournament before but his Euro Tour form is not what it once was. He is 4-1 against Labanauskas, but their last match was back in 2022.
Cullen is too short at just 1.30 to win, but I don’t have the confidence in Labanauskas to back him. No bet.
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Tip: No Bet
Rob Cross vs. Daryl Gurney
Superchin will be trying to make the final day for the first time in 2024. He faces something of a nemesis in the form of Rob Cross.
Cross famously came from an almost impossible looking position to beat Gurney in the semi-final of the 2019 World Matchplay. Some would say that Gurney never recovered from that. Gurney has beaten Cross since that fateful night, but overall, Cross is 16-8 against Superchin.
They last met in ET2 and Cross won 6-2. That was just a poor effort by the Northern Irishman and he is playing better right now, winning six of his last ten matches. The consistency is not yet good enough to consider him for titles, but he remains a dangerous opponent.
Rob Cross has also won six of his last ten matches, and like Gurney, his consistency leaves something to be desired. He is 4-2 against Gurney in Europe and has won their last four Euro Tour matches.
Cross is the 1.61 favourite, Gurney 2.40. There is a bit of value in Gurney’s odds, but I don’t like betting on Rob Cross matches. I just tend to lose money. No bet.
2024 Austrian Darts Open Saturday Tip: No Bet
Dave Chisnall vs. Brendan Dolan
If Gurney loses to Cross in the preceding match, Dolan will see a chance to close the gap in the race for a World Cup place. Dolan doesn’t do European Sundays as a rule, but he is in decent form, winning six of his last ten matches.
He had to play well to beat a local qualifier yesterday. The crowd was partisan, but Dolan averaged 98 in a 6-3 win. He has been scoring well in recent matches, three ton pluses in the last six along with a 97 and 98. His low was a 92. Chisnall will need to be on his game.
Chizzy is not in great form. He has lost five of his last ten and he has only won two of his six Euro Tour matches in 2024. He isn’t scoring as well as Dolan and I can sense an opportunity for The History Maker.
Chisnall is 10-4 vs. Dolan but I’ll back Dolan to improve that record.
