2024 European Darts Open Saturday Preview – JP
2024 European Darts Open Saturday Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 European Darts Open Saturday preview. He fired in three winners from five bets yesterday and it could easily have been five out of five on another day.
Interesting Matches
Not enough time for a full preview of this afternoon’s session, but I’ll have a look at the more interesting matches.
I expect Van Veen, Bunting and Heta to win the opening matches, but their odds are too short to be of any interest.
Ryan Searle vs. Daryl Gurney
Superchin was playing exhibition darts yesterday (and he is very good at it), throwing a look away 180 and finishing with a double – double finish, just because he could. It was a 6-0 win over Kantele and Gurney played with a smile on his face for the whole match.
He would not have done that while he was trying to win his place at the World Cup. Since that door has closed, we have seen him make his first final for a few years, and Daryl is now playing darts like he is enjoying it. Who would have thought?
Ryan Searle is having his best Euro Tour season and no doubt would like to make it to another final day at least. Searle has won five of his last ten matches, all on the Euro Tour.
Heavy Metal has only played Euro Tour darts for the last five weeks, with eleven matches played and six won. Nine matches saw 96+ averages so he is playing well without being able to get beyond the quarter final stage.
Searle Leads H2H
Their H2H record is 7-2 to Searle and Gurney knows it. Searle has won their last six in a row, four of which required a deciding leg. The two matches Gurney won also required a deciding leg. There is a pattern here.
We have a more relaxed Gurney playing a version of Searle who actually seems to be enjoying playing on the Euro Tour for a change. This could be a good match. I suspect Gurney will win, but the best bet has to be on overs.
2024 European Darts Open Saturday Tip: 2 points over 9.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfair
Chris Dobey vs. Jeffrey de Graaf
De Graaf did his thing yesterday, hitting a low average, but winning, beating Andrew Gilding 6-4. He has won five of his last ten matches and when you look at his form line, there is little to write home about, but every time I watch him, I think ‘he’s good’. He made the final day in ET7, his first time into the final day, and he is enjoying it.
Chris Dobey is one of the very biggest scorers in the game, very much in contrast to De Graaf. Will he be able to just outscore De Graaf, create more leg winning chances? He should, so long as he plays well.
His weakness is the odd, but not that odd, bad match. Hero to zero from one match to another. Dobey has won five of his last ten matches and he is not in top form, losing four of his last five matches, two of his last three saw sub 92 averages.
I’ll give De Graaf a chance on the handicap.
2024 European Darts Open Saturday Tip: 1 point Jeffrey de Graaf to win +2.5 legs @ 1.80 with Betfred
Dave Chisnall vs. Luke Woodhouse
Chizzy has lost six of his last ten matches and five of his last six. He has only won four matches on the Euro Tour this season and he is getting a bit frustrated.
Woodhouse, on the other hand, is playing at the top of his form and enjoying it. He still puts too much pressure on himself to go really deep, but he is feeling confident.
He averaged 97 in his 6-3 win over Mike de Decker last night. It was a good performance, even if he missed a few too many doubles. Woodhouse has a decent record against Chisnall, winning four of their nine matches, including their last two, both in major championships.
2024 European Darts Open Saturday Tip: 1 point Luke Woodhouse to win @ 2.48 with Livescorebet
Ross Smith should take care of Callan Rydz in the penultimate match.
Ricardo Pietreczko vs. Kevin Doets
Pietreczko is bang out of form, losing nine of his last twelve matches. He has hit just three 90+ averages in those twelve, but still lost those matches.
Doets has won seven of his last ten games, despite low averages. He doesn’t have big guns but still has a win rate of 63% and has reached a couple of Players Championship quarter finals this season. He isn’t as good as some make out, but he can take his chances.
Their H2H record is 5-0 to Doets.
