2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Preview

It was a tricky start for us in Belgium this afternoon but James Punt rarely stays down for long. Check out his 2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night preview below.

Afternoon Reflections

It was a frustrating afternoon session which should still have returned a small profit, but for Labanauskas missing three darts at tops to land the 2.40 handicap bet vs Van Duijvenbode. He was 4-1 up at one point but that final leg was elusive.

The evening session is not the best line up but hopefully we can dig out a few winners before the better stuff kicks in tomorrow.

Ross Smith vs. Srybren Gijbels

The local qualifiers here last year all lost in the first round, winning seven legs between them. One of the local qualifiers is playing as I type, and he is giving Luke Woodhouse a run for his money but is only averaging in the mid-80s, despite hitting ten and eleven dart legs.

The qualifying tournament was huge, with 174 players trying to get one of four places. Gijbels averaged 80.92 across his five matches, one of the better players, and he will have plenty of support from an enthusiastic crowd. He is an active WDF player, rather than an out and out amateur.

Smith is unlikely to get it all his own way, but he should justify his odds of 1.05. His form is a bit erratic at the moment. He has won six of his last ten matches but he has hit a few flat spots in amongst some good performances.

Since 2016, Smith has played twenty four first round matches and failed to cover a -4.5 leg in eighteen. On the plus side, he has covered -4.5 legs in five of his last ten first round Euro Tour matches.

Is Gijbels worth backing with a +4.5 legs handicap? Can he win two legs against Smith? As it stands as I type, we now have had six local qualifiers play in the first round here and today five would have won with a +4.5 leg handicap.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: 1 point Srybren Gijbels to win +4.5 legs @ 1.80 with Betfred, Ladbrokes, Boylesports

Ryan Searle vs. Daryl Pilgrim

Searle finished eighth on the European Tour OOM last year, losing one final, a semi-final and six quarter finals. It was by far his best Euro Tour campaign in his career and he is aiming to improve on it in 2025.

Searle has won eight of his last ten matches and he is in very good form, until he gets on a stage, then he can underperform. Hopefully, for him, he will be a lot more confident on the Euro Tour stages after a few good runs in 2024. He made the quarter final here last year, beating Luke Humphries in the third round.

Daryl Pilgrim got his tour card in January and made the quarter final in PC1, beating Josh Rock and Damon Heta along the way. He followed that up by qualifying for this. More recently he has won six of his last ten matches but he has been hitting a lot of sub 90 averages.

He is good player on his day, and is not to be dismissed easily, but he has got a tough draw here. Pilgrim has only played in two Euro Tour events, both last year, and he won just one match, beating Jeff Smith 6-1 in ET13.

If he was showing better form, Pilgrim could be considered on the handicap, but he seems to have gone off the boil. No bet.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: No Bet

Jermaine Wattimena vs. Patrick De Backer

This should be a good draw for Wattimena. The local qualifier averaged 79.56 across his five qualifying matches yesterday. He is not even a part time professional, unlike Gijbels, so this will be an entirely new experience for him. He will either love it and raise his game, or just be too nervous to play his best, and he will need to be at his best to get much against the in-form Wattimena.

Wattimena has won seven of his last ten matches and reached two Players Championship quarter finals. He is hitting some big averages and his B game is low 90s these days. Wattimena is the 1.03 favourite De Backer 13.00. At the odds, it’s worth chancing a Wattimena whitewash.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: 0.5 point Wattimena to win 6-0 @ 5.50 with Betfred, BET365, Skybet

Josh Rock vs. Boris Krcmar

Rock has won eight of his last ten matches and was a semi-finalist at last weekend’s UK Open. He is playing well and in good form.

Krcmar lost his tour card at the end of last year and failed to get it back at Q school. He qualified for this via the East European Qualifier, and we might see quite a bit of him on the Euro Tour via that route in 2025.

It is hard to know what sort of form Boris is in, but he averaged 89 when qualifying for this, and 92 when qualifying for ET2. There have been nine Eastern Europe qualifiers played so far and Boris tops the averages at 89.92, just a little down on what he was doing on tour last year. He can be a very dangerous opponent.

Close h2H

These two have met on three occasions with Rock winning two. All three were in 2023 and all were close, with two 6-5s and a 6-4. Will we get another close one, or will the in-form Rock be too good this time?

Boris has played eight Euro Tour first round matches and won six, so he is capable of getting a result, but he rarely faced such a tough opponent at this stage.

Rock is the 1.30 favourite, Krcmar 3.95. The big Croatian is not the quickest of players, while Rock is like an overwound up toy. The slow pace may not suit Rock.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.38 with Betfair

Michael Smith vs. Ryan Joyce

Another match with a clash of pace. Smith likes to rattle along at pace, Joyce is more sedate. Michael Smith has had a number of injury problems. Arthritis in his wrist and he fell off a scooter and hurt his shoulder. He has had cortisone injections in the wrist and is getting physio on the shoulder.

The good news for Smith is that he is starting to play better after a very slow start to the season. He turned up in Minehead last weekend on the back of seven straight defeats, but he won three matches to make the quarter final and got his season off to a decent start. It wasn’t vintage Smith but he was competitive and only lost 8-10 to Clayton in the quarter final.

Joyce Playing OK

Ryan Joyce has won six of his last ten matches and he is playing OK, but not his best. He reached the third round here last year, but only won a total of five Euro Tour matches in 2024. He is not a good traveller and hates flying. At least this event reachable by train or car.

Their H2H record is 4-3 to Smith, but they have never met on stage before, and certainly not in Europe. Six matches were best of eleven leg matches and five were under 9.5 legs. I thought this had the look of a close match, but that H2H record suggests maybe not. I will sit this one out.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: No Bet

Raymond van Barneveld vs. Cam Crabtree

Young Cam Crabtree is catching a few pundits’ eyes and rightly so. He got his card via Q school in January and is playing Development Tour and the Pro Tour. He has played twenty matches at senior level and won thirteen.

Crabtree won a couple of matches at the UK Open, beating the fancied Wesley Plaisier 6-1 in the first round and averaging 99.94. He then beat Andy Baetens, also 6-1, before going down 4-6 to Radek Szaganski. He has hit some big averages on the Development Tour and his A-game is top class. He just needs to develop his B-game and get more consistency, but he is only at the start of his darting career.

Barney carries on being a bit underwhelming but does enough to keep in the top 40 in the rankings. He has won six of his last ten matches but four of his last five saw sub 90 averages.

This will be Crabtree’s Euro Tour debut and it is always hard to predict how a young player will react to playing in front of a big crowd and for that reason, it is a no bet match for me.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: No Bet

Mike de Decker vs. Thomas Lovely

Home crowd favourite, Mike de Decker, is not in great form in 2025. His win rate is just 45% and he has lost his last four matches in a row. He is not playing as badly as that sounds, but he is averaging just 92.94 due to inconsistency.

Thomas Lovely finally got his tour card this year after trying for a few years. He made the fourth round at the UK Open last weekend, but had three sub 90 averages and didn’t beat anyone of note. In the end he lost 4-10 to Rob Cross. It is hard to place his game but his seasonal average is only 87.79.

De Decker is the 1.30 favourite and even though his form isn’t great, with the home crowd on his side De Decker should win. However, there’s not much value to be found so it is a no bet game for me.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: No Bet

Martin Schindler vs. Jim Long

Jim Long is another Euro Tour debutant. He won a tour card in January and since then has played seventeen matches and won eight.

Schindler has won six of his last ten matches and while his consistency is not the best, he is playing better than Long. Schindler is a two time Euro Tour winner and something of a specialist.

Martin Schindler is the 1.38 favourite and this is another underwhelming match betting wise. The German is just about backable giving up a -1.5 leg handicap at 1.65.

2025 Belgian Darts Open Friday Night Tip: 1 point Martin Schindler to win -1.5 legs @ 1.65 with Livescorebet

-JamesPunt