2024 WC Darts Friday Preview & Tips – JP
2024 WC Darts Friday Preview & Tips
Thankfully, Damon Heta ensured yesterday wasn’t a total write off. Luke Littler dropped a set against Andrew Gilding and he was arguably lucky that Gilding’s doubling deserted him. Clemens and Leung failed to land our over 180s bet but at least our bet on Clemens to be top European without MVG is still alive. James Punt is back at it today, check out his 2024 WC Darts Friday match previews and tips below.
Brendan Dolan vs. Mickey Mansell
Mansell played well enough to beat his Chinese opponent yesterday. It was a 3-0 win but it was closer than that suggests. Zong scored as well as Mansell, indeed better for most of the match, but his ability to close out a leg was poor.
It was an 89.9 average from Mansell and he has reached his third second round match in a row at Ally Pally. He lost the last two, 1-3 to Ricky Evans and 0-3 to Peter Wright.
Brendan Dolan is in reasonable form, winning six of his last ten matches. He also has a very good H2H record with Mansell, winning ten of their thirteen matches. Three were this year and their last match was just last month, with Dolan winning 6-3.
Dolan was the 1.62 favourite 24 hours ago which looked about right given their H2H record. There is not much between them standard wise but Dolan is the more successful player and he has won his second round match in three of the last five years.
The odds on Dolan have drifted to 1.73 and I don’t think that Mansell’s performance was good enough to justify the shift in odds.
2024 WC Darts Friday Tip: 1 point Brendan Dolan to win @ 1.73 with SpreadEx
Jose de Sousa vs. Jeffery de Graaf
This has to be a great opportunity for De Graaf. The Special One is in poor form, losing seven of his last ten matches. He is no longer the heavy scoring machine he was a few years ago. He is now more likely to average under 90 that hit a ton plus.
De Sousa has won his second round matches for the last three years but 2023 has been his worst season since he got a tour card. He has dropped over four points on his average in the last two years and it is still falling.
Jeffery de Graaf beat Ritchie Edhouse 3-2 in a match where he was 0-2 down. He ended up with a 93.3 average and while it was nothing earth shattering, it was his first win on the Ally Pally stage and he is free to try and enjoy this one.
Lower Level Form
Before we get too excited about De Graaf, it should be remembered that he too has lost seven of his last ten matches and he plays at a much lower level than De Sousa. His seasonal average is 85.7 and well shy of De Sousa’s diminished rate of 93.6.
De Sousa will not be feeling confident and he is hard to back with stolen money, but De Graaf rarely shows a game that should be winning a second round in a World Championship. He should already be at home, but he got away with a slow start vs. Edhouse.
De Sousa is the 1.44 favourite with De Graaf 3.25. Two players who are out of form is rarely a good betting opportunity and I’ll happily pass this by.
2024 WC Darts Friday Tip: No Bet
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Jamie Hughes
Hughes was very emotional after beating David Cameron 3-1 in the first round. It was his first win at the Ally Pally and it was a win he thought may never come. It was a terrible game of darts with fifty darts at doubles missed between the two players. Yozzer will have to massively improve on that performance if he is to have any chance here.
Ratajski is not in great form, losing five of his last ten matches, but there were some big averages in there and his game is in decent shape most of the time. He has won three of his four second round matches here but it must be said that his stage form in 2023 has been poor. It is hard to see him having a big run but he is the favourite to win this.
Their H2H record is 4-1 to Ratajski but it was Hughes who won their last match 6-4 earlier this year. Ratajski is the 1.33 favourite with Hughes 3.80. This is another match which makes no betting appeal.
2024 WC Darts Friday Tip: No Bet
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Boris Krčmar
Big Boris was a welcome winner for us on Tuesday when he beat Keegan Brown 3-1. It was an OK performance, a 91 average was enough against a very out of form Brown.
This match is all about how fit Dirk van Duijvenbode is. He was sporting a shoulder brace when we last saw him. He basically couldn’t throw and was easy to beat. Dirk has lost seven of his last ten matches and was easily opposed.
There are reports that he is now in a much better state and playing without the brace. He was playing exhibition matches in the build up to this and I doubt he would have done that if he was still having problems.
All I can say about this match is, if you want a bet, wait for it to go in-play and then you can see if he is wearing the brace or not. If he is, back Boris.
