2024 WC Darts Wednesday Night Preview & Tips – JP
2024 WC Darts Wednesday Night Preview & Tips
Another night of darts and another two bets from James Punt. We did alright with two winners from four bets this afternoon, let’s hope for more tonight. Check out his 2024 WC Darts Wednesday Night match previews and tips below.
Matt Campbell vs. Luke Littler
Matt Campbell beat James Wade in the second round on the 19th December and promptly jumped on a plane to fly back to Canada for a family Christmas. He made the return journey on Christmas Day. He has had Boxing Day to get used to the time difference and recover from his journey. Hardly ideal preparation.
The Canadian averaged 94.7, hit ten 180s and checked out at 36% across his two matches so far. His checkout rate is the lowest of the remaining unseeded players.
Littler has averaged 99.3, hit twelve 180s and checked out at 42%. His great stats are mostly due to his opening match against Christian Kist, as he struggled with the slow pace of Andrew Gilding in the second round. Campbell may have taken a mental note of that, but it is a rare player who can change the pace of their game at will and still play well.
Long Match?
The fact that this could be a long match will be the biggest thing Littler will notice, but to be fair, Campbell will not have played in such a potentially long match either. He has never made it beyond the first round before, so a best of seven set match will be a new test of concentration.
Maintaining good concentration for a match that could last over an hour is the key in these proper World Championship matches, and it is hard to say who will cope better.
A sixteen year old should have plenty of energy compared to a jet lagged 34 year old, but Littler is not like many sixteen year olds. If he keeps dining on kebabs, he will be twice the man is now in no time.
Hard to Call
This is a hard one to call. Littler is the 1.33 favourite and Campbell 3.70. That is a bit disrespectful about Campbell. He did beat James Wade, after all, and he has come through two five set matches which hints that stamina shouldn’t be a problem, so long as the travelling hasn’t taken it out of him.
I can see no great value in the match. I had hoped for better odds on a +2.5 leg handicap for Campbell, but 1.61 just isn’t quite enough. No bet.
2024 WC Darts Wednesday Night No Bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Richard Veenstra
Veenstra put in a great performance against Kim Huybrechts in the last round. His performance, combined with Huybrechts failure to hit a single double, meant a 3-0 win for the Dutchman, without dropping a single leg.
He was interviewed afterwards and said he might get a set against MVG. He has mentally lost the match before it has started.
There are fewer players these days who are beaten by MVG before they start. So many people have beaten him in the last two or three years that his cloak of invincibility has become very tatty. However, with many of the Dutch players, they still see themselves as the junior partner.
Doubles Key
These two have only met once before, a Players Championship match in March, and MVG won 6-2. It was a low scoring affair but MVG was 75% on the doubles.
Veenstra has averaged 92.4 across his first two matches, checked out at 53% and hit just four 180s. Neither player is a massive 180 hitter. MVG likes to play downstairs quite a bit and Veenstra’s 12 month 180 per leg rate is 0.22 (MVG 0.28).
If Veenstra is correct, and he gets thumped by MVG, we could see maybe four or five sets. The shorter the match, the fewer the 180s hit. They failed to hit a single one in their only previous match.
2024 WC Darts Wednesday Night Tip: 1 point Under 10.5 180s @ 1.85 with Fitzdares
Michael Smith vs. Madars Razma
Razma played better than I expected in his opening match, beating a disappointing Mike de Decker 3-1. It was only a 91.33 average, but he came into this event in dire form and he did well to put that behind him, get the win and a chance against his friend, Michael Smith. He also gets a guaranteed £25000.
The defending champion, Michael Smith put in a good performance to beat Kevin Doets 3-2. Doets averaged 99.46, Smith 100.09. It was a proper test of Smiths mettle and he held up well. This longer match, against a lower scoring opponent, should be easier for him.
Better Player
They have met only twice, both on the floor and Smith won both, 6-1 and 6-3. Smith is just a better player in all departments and he is the 1.14 favourite.
Smith has played eight third round matches at Ally Pally and won seven. Interestingly, he has always lost at least two sets. However, he is now the number 1 seed and gets an easier draw as a result.
If he is to break that run of losing sets, it should be now, but across all his matches here, he has only won three of them to nil. That is across thirty seven matches, so maybe Razma can get himself on the scoreboard.
Razma has only played seven matches here, losing four, but he has never lost to nil.
