2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Night Preview

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 Czech Darts Open Friday night preview. He landed a couple of winners earlier, fingers crossed for more this evening.

Luke Woodhouse vs. Marko Kantele

Woodhouse has won six of his last ten matches and is playing well. His consistency could be better, but there is plenty to like about his game right now.

Kantele keeps on plying his trade, regularly wins a spot on the Euro Tour and goes out in the first round, as he has done twice this season. He has played a total of thirteen Euro Tour events over a long career and has lost nine first round matches.

These two have met twice and Woodhouse has won both, 6-5 and 6-3, with both matches on the floor in 2019, so hardly recent form.

Woodhouse is the 1.25 favourite, he should win comfortably but there is no value there.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: No Bet

James Wade vs. Daniel Markovsky

Markovsky averaged 74.18 across his four qualifying matches yesterday and his best was 79.83. He will have to do a lot better than that to get much change out of James Wade.

Wade is safely through to the finals next week and he is here to get a last bit of match practice in before he tries to win another European Championship. Wade has won six of his last ten matches and he is playing reasonably well.

James Wade is the 1.07 favourite and there can be no interest in this match from a betting point of view.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: No bet

Mike de Decker vs. Brett Claydon

It is always worth considering opposing a player who has just had a big breakthrough success. There can be a bit of mental letdown immediately after the win. De Decker did play on Tuesday’s Players Championship, won a couple of matches, lost to Daryl Gurney in round 3, and went home. He played OK.

Brett Claydon would need to be playing well to have the chance to take advantage of any post tournament hangover. However, Claydon has lost six of his last ten matches, his best averages have been around 93 and half have seen sub 90 averages.

These two met just last month and De Decker won 6-1. That was their second ever meeting and the other was a 6-5 win for De Decker back in 2019.

De Decker is the 1.22 favourite, Claydon 4.50. Claydon is not the player who looks set to beat De Decker. No bet.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: No Bet

Nathan Aspinall vs. Michal Smejda

The Asp is currently 32nd on the Euro Tour OOM and needs a win or two to cement his place in the finals next weekend. He has lost six of his last ten matches and he was getting very frustrated in midweek.

He lost a second round match to Razma and after missing a double he threw his last dart in hand at the board like a fast bowler. It was petulant, dangerous and he will be getting a fine for it. It told us where his head is though.

Aspinall will have been happy to draw a local qualifier rather than one of the proper players in the first round. He will just have to hope that Smejda does not rise to the occasion and get the crowd involved. I’m not sure Aspinall’s head would cope well with that. However, it is unlikely to happen.

Smejda averaged under 80 in all four of his qualifiers, so unless he finds his A-plus game, he is going to find it hard to land a blow on Aspinall. No bet.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: No Bet

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Jonny Clayton

I was enjoying a few very nice Paulaner Oktoberfest brews last night, when I spotted the early odds for today’s matches. Clayton was 1.80 to win this, and I had to get on for a two point bet. Sadly, this morning, that 1.80 had gone and The Ferret is now just a 1.67 shot and he has been backed across the board.

Van den Bergh had a good run in the Grand Slam, reaching the semi-final, but that was TV Dimi. He went to Wigan midweek and played two matches, lost two matches and didn’t average over 87. That was floor Dimi. On the Euro Tour, Van den Bergh has lost his last four first round matches.

Ferret In Form

Clayton was in good form in midweek, reaching back to back quarter finals. He lost one 5-6 to MVG, and the other 4-6 to Josh Rock. He averaged 99 and 97 respectively, so he was playing well. The Ferret has won eight of his last ten matches and has reached the quarter final in five of his last seven tournaments.

Their H2H record is 11-8 to Van den Bergh. They have only met on the Euro Tour once, with Clayton winning it 6-4 back in 2022. Amazingly, only four of their nineteen matches have not been on TV. In those the score is 3-1 Van den Bergh.

The 1.80 has gone, but 1.67 is just about worth a point.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: 1 point Jonny Clayton to win @ 1.67 with SpreadEx

Daryl Gurney vs. Raymond van Barneveld

Gurney has won six of his last ten, but he has been very inconsistent across those ten. He has gone back to back quarter finals on the Euro Tour, taking advantage of getting a leg up to seeded status in both events. He is back amongst the first round scrappers this weekend.

Had Rob Cross withdrawn before the draw had been made, Gurney would have been elevated straight into the second round, but instead, Kim Huybrechts comes in as third reserve, and gets a bye into round two.

Barney has won six of his last ten matches, but it is fair to say that he has played a lot more consistently than Superchin. RVB made his first Euro Tour quarter final of the season last time out in Switzerland, but he was only a provisional qualifier for next weekend’s final in Dortmund. He should be OK even if he lost this, but a win would confirm it.

Their H2H record is 5-4 to Gurney and the Northern Irishman won their only match in 2024, a 7-4 win in a Players Championship semi-final in June. Gurney has won both their matches since Barney returned from his ‘retirement’ in 2019.

Barney is the very marginal 1.91 favourite, with Gurney 1.95. The odds are fair enough and there doesn’t seem to be much value here. No bet.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: No Bet

Cameron Menzies vs. Peter Wright

An all Scottish affair to see which one can join Alan Soutar in the second round. Menzies has gone off the boil after a very good run in August. More recently, he has lost six of his last ten matches and he looked particularly displeased with his performance in the Grand Prix last week, losing in the first round to Chisnall, and it was a very poor effort. Menzies did not play midweek and he comes here on the back of winning just one of his last five matches.

Peter Wright, the defending champion, has pulled his career back from the brink. He won the German Darts Championship at the start of September and the quarter final in Belgium the following weekend. Most recently, Wright has won five of his last ten matches, but he has been scoring reasonably well and quite consistently.

Their H2H record is 2-1 to Menzies and on the Euro Tour 2-0, including a 6-3 win back in May.

Value Lies With Snakebite

You can make a case for both players, just not a very good one. Menzies is the 1.75 favourite, Wright 2.20. If there is any value, it lies with Wright, but neither player is floating my boat right now.

The one thing that pushes me into a bet is the fact that Menzies needs to win this to get into a provisional spot in next weekend’s final. The other players in similar positions who played this afternoon all lost.

Wright is qualified thanks to his tour win, so he is under no pressure. So long as Wright plays to his usual current standard, Menzies will have play well to win, and he isn’t playing well right now.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: 1 point Peter Wright to win @ 2.20 with BET365

Kevin Doets vs. Michael Smith

It is hard to get used to Michael Smith playing in the first round on the Euro Tour, but it was his choice not to play in five events. He did reach the semi-final of ET 8, the European Darts Open. He has only played in two Euro Tour events after that and won just one match.

Bully Boy is not loving the Euro Tour in 2024. His recent form sees six wins from his last ten matches and his consistency leaves something to be desired. There are too many iffy performances. In his defence, he is losing to good players and beating the journeymen pros.

The question is, do we think Doets is a journeyman? He is well thought of by many good judges. He is only 26, so too young to be dismissed as a journeyman, but his recent form is poor, losing seven of his last ten matches.

Doets Needs A Run

Doets needs to reach the semi-finals if he is to make the European Championships next weekend. Smith is a provisional qualifier, but not yet confirmed. In this afternoon’s matches, the three players who needed a win to get them into the provisional places, Dolan, Rydz and Razma, all lost, and all looked tight.

Clemens cemented his place in the finals when beating Dolan 6-1. It seems that having one foot through the door is less pressure than being on the outside, hoping to get in. Doets, like Martin Lukeman, may be so far back that he is not really thinking of the finals. Certainly, Lukeman was not aware that he ‘only’ needed to make the final, he thought he had to win it.

Their H2H record extends to just one match, a 3-2 win for Smith in the World Championship last December. Doets’ A-game can trouble Smith, but he is clearly struggling for form, and while Smith is not in top form, he should beat Doets. The odds are just 1.44 for him to do it, and given his lack of consistency, this is best passed over. No bet.

2024 Czech Darts Open Friday Tip: No Bet

-JamesPunt