2024 World Series Darts R2 Preview

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 World Series Darts R2 preview. We had to make do with just one winner earlier on today, fingers crossed for better this evening.

Chris Dobey vs. Boris Krcmar

Dobey was lucky to get through to the second round. He was poor in his 6-5 win over the equally poor Dimitri van den Bergh. The first few legs were pub darts, but somebody had to win and it was Dobey. He will need to improve if he is to get much further. Dobey has won eight of his last ten matches and will be fancied to get the better of Boris.

Krcmar celebrated his birthday with an impressive 6-4 win over Stephen Bunting. It was a 95.6 average and that is what he can do.

Their H2H record is 4-2 to Dobey. They met three times in 2023 and it was 2-1 Dobey, and three times in 2022 and again 2-1 Dobey.

Of their five best of eleven leg matches, four have been over 9.5 legs, and Dobey may not have this all his own way. Dobey is the 1.30 favourite, Krcmar 4.00. I’ll take a chance that Boris can keep Dobey honest and make a game of it. If Dobey finds his A game, this bet loses, but his A game was nowhere in sight yesterday.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.30 with Betfred

Luke Littler vs. Raymond van Barneveld

Littler was pushed very hard by Ross Smith in the first round, coming through with a 6-5 win and a 103 average. That means Littler has won seven of his last ten.

Van Barneveld has only won three of his last ten matches, but he managed a 6-0 win over Engstrom yesterday who just didn’t turn up. Barney played well though, delighting the Barney Army, who will give Littler a hard time, if he doesn’t just run away with the match.

These two have only met once, at the World Championship, and Littler won that four sets to one.

Littler is the 1.25 favourite, Barney 4.50. It is hard to see past a Littler win, home crowd or not. It is not a great betting match by the look of things. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: No Bet

Luke Humphries vs. Damon Heta

Heta only beat Gabriel Clemens 6-5, despite going 4-1 up. To be fair, Clemens did play very well, both averaged 97. It was a better performance from Heta than he had been showing for a few matches and he will need to repeat it if he is to trouble Humphries.

Cool Hand averaged 101 in a 6-3 win over Puha and he has won eight of his last ten matches. He also has a 5-0 H2H record over Heta, including an 8-2 win in the final of the New Zealand Darts Masters last month.

Humphries is our outright selection and there is no need to be backing him here at 1.33. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: No Bet

Michael van Gerwen vs. Danny Noppert

The Dutch fans will get a home winner here, but which one? History suggests that it will be MVG. He is 11-5 with his fellow Dutchman and he has handed out two absolute spankings to Noppert this year, both on the Euro Tour, winning 6-1 and 6-2. MVG said he wasn’t feeling well yesterday. I’m not sure if that was pain associated with his dental surgery or a bit of a cold.

Noppert played well in a 6-3 win over Gian van Veen, averaging 98.86. He was the senior partner in that match, now he is the junior.

Noppert can, and has, beaten MVG, but like a lot of the Dutch players, he is a bit in awe of Mighty Mike. Those two Euro Tour spankings will not have helped, especially as the last one was just two weeks ago. It must be said that Noppert played poorly in both those matches, well short of his usual steady standard.

I’ll take the chance that MVG can continue his recent trend and hand out another drubbing.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: 1 point MVG to win -1.5 legs @ 1.93 with Livescorebet

Gerwyn Price vs. Daryl Gurney

Gurney was my only winner from seven first round bets, so well played Superchin. It was a good win over Dirk van Duijvenbode, 6-4, hitting the bullseye to win the match….and shut the crowd up. Which was nice.

Price finally showed a bit of desire when he beat Cameron Menzies 6-2. He averaged 98.62 and was just too good for the Scotsman.

These two have had a few battles down the years, sometimes with a bit of bad blood, but they are on good terms these days. I used to love when they played in the Premier League, churning out draw after draw at nice odds.

Their H2H record is still very much in Price’s favour, 12-3, with four draws. They last met at this year’s Matchplay and Price won that comfortably 10-4. Gurney has not beaten Price since 2019.

Seven out of eight of their best of eleven leg matches have seen over 9.5 legs and the way they are both playing, I am expecting a close match. Gurney is starting to be more confident, hitting a lot of doubles, and he can just enjoy this match with no pressure on the outcome.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 generally available

Peter Wright vs. Jeff Smith

Smith beat Rhys Griffin 6-4 in a very low quality match. He will be delighted to make the second round and get the £10k prizemoney, which will more than cover his expenses. He can just relax and hope that Wright has an off night, which is unlikely.

Snakebite is on a roll. He has won nine of his last ten matches and he didn’t have to do a lot to beat a hopeless Dave Chisnall 6-1, this afternoon. That should have been a close match, but Chizzy must have spied the TV cameras and freaked out.

This should be another stroll for Wright and he is the 1.30 favourite to win. If Smith plays another mid 80s average, which is what he is doing this season, Wright can get this done with the minimum of fuss.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: 1 point Peter Wright to win -2.5 legs @ 2.00 generally available

Rob Cross vs. Kevin Doets

The performance of the afternoon session came from Doets who absolutely smashed Keane Barry 6-0 and averaged 110. If he can keep that up, farewell Crossy.

Rob Cross just had to turn up to beat Simon Whitlock 6-2, with the Aussie only managing to average 80. It is hard to place Cross, as that was his first match after a month off.

This is all about Doets. Can he go close to replicating this afternoon’s form? His seasonal average is 90.63, which suggests not. He has only hit three tons in his last 50 matches, so that performance was a huge outlier.

I suspect Doets will revert to type and let Cross pick up the win. Voltage is the 1.62 favourite and the temptation is to back him -1.5 legs at 2.05, but I just don’t really know how well Cross will go after his break. He was only OK today, but that was no sort of match on which to judge form. No bet.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: No Bet

Michael Smith vs. Wessel Nijman

Smith survived a match dart when beating Jose de Sousa 6-5 earlier. De Sousa was the better player but that losing habit makes it hard for him to take his chances. Smith averaged 94.58, which was OK after his long break.

Nijman bet Gilding 6-1, but only averaged 90.03. He was never in any bother and the win will have settled him in, but he will need to up his game against even a rusty Smith. If he can play closer to his A game, a win is perfectly possible, but our bet on him to win the quarter is enough interest for me. No Bet.

2024 World Series Darts R2 Tip: No bet

It is Grand Prix Duties for me tomorrow, so no more darts this weekend. Thank God! I hear you cry. It has been a stinker, but it happens.

-JamesPunt