2024 WC Darts Thursday Evening Preview & Tips – JP
2024 WC Darts Thursday Evening Preview & Tips
An afternoon to forget for us at the Ally Pally. Mickey Mansell proved too experienced for Zong, Woodhouse didn’t produce his best and Mike De Decker couldn’t handle the Razzmatazz. James Punt goes again tonight, check out his 2024 WC Darts Thursday evening match previews and tips below.
Andrew Gilding vs. Luke Littler
It is a quick turnaround for the new darting sensation, having put Christian Kist to the sword last night. It was a 106 average, the highest of the tournament so far, a checkout rate of 50% and seven 180s.
Andrew Gilding was going to struggle against any opponent given that his most recent form has been poor. He has lost seven of his last ten matches and he is the 4.00 outsider to win this, which is a bit optimistic.
The only slight worry is the pace of Gilding and whether Littler will be knocked out of his rhythm. He did mention that he would have to adopt against Gilding, so he does know what to expect.
The Littler Bandwagon
Littler is 1.25 to win which is fair enough but I’ll jump on the bandwagon and go for another 3-0.
Littler was just about faultless last night and it may be unrealistic to think that he plays like that all the time. His seasonal average is only 92.35 and of his last 50 matches, 20% were ton plus averages. However, he is up against someone who is struggling for form.
Gilding has never gone beyond the second round and he has lost three matches to nil. A fourth would be no surprise.
2024 WC Darts Thursday evening Tip: 1 point Luke Littler to win 3-0 @ 2.87 with SpreadEx
Danny Noppert vs. Scott Williams
Noppert is a hard one to call as he hasn’t played competitively for five weeks. He withdrew from the Players Championship finals to be at home for the birth of his second child. We saw another player who wasn’t at the Players Championship play least night, and it didn’t go well for Peter Wright.
Noppert had been in good form before he took time out, winning eight of his last ten matches, but it is hardly current. His World Championship form shows him winning his second round matches for the last four years.
Easy Opener
Scott Williams had little trouble beating Muramatsu 3-1 in the first round and he has won six of his last ten matches. There is not a lot of consistency in his game. Half of his last ten matches saw sub 90 averages, along with a couple of ton plusses.
These two met recently in PC29 and Noppert won 6-4. That was his third win over Williams and all three ended 6-4. Williams has beaten Noppert once, a 6-5 win in ET12 back in September.
Danny Noppert is the 1.40 favourite and Williams 3.50. The temptation is to go for another close match, maybe Noppert winning 3-2, but the fact that he has been out of action for a while is a worry. No bet.
2024 WC Darts Thursday evening Tip: No Bet
Gabriel Clemens vs. Man Lok Leung
Man Lok Leung produced the first proper surprise of the tournament, knocking out Gian van Veen with a 3-2 win, coming back from 0-2 down. He found the range on the treble 20 and hit a remarkable eleven maximums.
Gabriel Clemens is in good form, winning seven of his last ten matches and reaching the semi-final of the Players Championship finals. He reached the semi-final here last year but what had looked like a decent draw, now looks very tricky.
Will Leung be able to recapture that kind of form again, or will there be a bit of a mental let down after his big win? It is very likely that he will need to be at his best as Clemens has been playing very well and with excellent consistency. Thirteen of his last fourteen matches have seen 94+ averages.
Clemens has won three of his four second round matches here, dropping just one set in his last three.
Clemens is the 1.33 favourite with Leung 3.80. I expect Clemens to be too good and he should justify the odds. The one bet I will make is over 8.5 180s. We can’t expect Leung to get another eleven, but clearly he can hit them and Clemens is an above average maximum hitter with 0.26 per leg.
2024 WC Darts Thursday evening Tip: 1 point over 8.5 180s @ 1.91 with Hills
Damon Heta vs. Martin Lukeman
Heta is in good form with seven wins from his last ten and he has reached three ranking Major quarter finals in 2023. We are used to seeing Heta have good runs in so many events but his ability to turn good runs into tournament wins is not great.
Lukeman beat Puha 3-1 in the first round. He will be looking to go one better than he did on debut last year when he lost his second round match 1-3 to Schindler. Smash has had problems off the oche this year and his darts have suffered as a result. His win rate is just 51% and he has lost six of his last ten matches.
Their H2H form is 4-2 to Heta and he is 2-0 in 2023. The Aussie is the 1.44 favourite with Lukeman 2.90. Heta has won two of his three second round matches here and I’ll take him to cover the handicap.
