2025 PC Finals R3 Preview & Tips – JP
2025 PC Finals R3 Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2025 PC Finals R3 preview. It was a struggle this afternoon, hopefully we can find a few more winners tonight.
R2 Reflections
This afternoon’s bet were terrible, five losers and one winner. I’m still fuming at Chris Dobey who had multiple darts to win 6-1…. but he missed and very nearly bottled it again. Crabtree missed match darts and allowed Dobey to fall over the line 6-5. That was a kick in the teeth. On the positive side, all three of our ante post picks are going nicely.
We have eight 3rd round matches tonight and we shift up to the longer, best of nineteen leg matches.
Daryl Gurney vs. Adam Lipscombe
Superchin upped his game against a poor display from Stephen Bunting, winning 6-4. I wouldn’t say he is in great form but a 95.47 average was better and he should now sense that he has a chance to make a quarter final and have a go as the outsider to make a semi at a venue were he won one of his majors.
Lipscombe is averaging around 93 so far and only dropped three legs. It will be harder against the experience of Gurney. Especially as we are now into the longer format, best of nineteen legs.
Superchin is the 1.40 favourite but I will take him to cover the handicap. Hopefully being back down in the dungeon will not suit Liscombe more than Gurney, but Superchin would prefer the big stage.
2025 PC Finals R3 Tip: 1 point Daryl Gurney to win -2.5 legs @ 1.91 with BET365
Gerwyn Price vs. Martin Schindler
Price moved into top gear against the unfortunate Sebastian Bialecki. He averaged 105 in a 6-1 win and looked good. It is in the latter stages of tournaments that he can unravel, but he could be tested tonight.
Price has played three third round matches in Players Championship finals and won two. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing well.
Schindler has won six of his last ten matches but is not playing as well as Price. He can bang in big numbers but has been inconsistent of late.
Their H2H record is 14-6 to Price and they played in last week’s Grand Slam and Price won that 10-6. They have played three best of nineteen leg matches and Price won two, 10-6 and 10-8, with Schindler winning the other 10-9 in last year’s UK Open.
Having played so recently, in the same format, it is hard to see why Price won’t win by a comfortable margin once again.
2025 PC Finals R3 Tip: 1-point Gerwyn Price to win -3.5 legs @ 1.90 with Ladbrokes
Andrew Gilding James Wade
Gilding really rode his luck when beating Dom Taylor in the first round. He won his second-round match in similar style against Justin Hood today. Back-to-back 6-5 wins will have taken something out of him mentally. He hasn’t been in great form lately.
James Wade beat Peter Wright 6-4 today in a pretty average game of darts. He was the better player and probably should have won easier than he did.
Their H2H record is 8-5 to Wade but much of it is ancient history. They have only met once in the last three years, Wade winning 7-3 in the semi-final of PC19 in June.
Wade is the 1.47 favourite but I will take him on the handicap.
2025 PC Finals R3 Tip: 1 point James Wade to win -1.5 legs @ 1.68 with Livescorebet
Nathan Aspianll vs. Danny Noppert
This should be good. Noppert is playing at a very high level, very consistently. He has won eight of his last ten matches, hitting six ton plus averages.
The Asp has played well enough in his opening two matches. A couple of mid 90 averages and he has only lost the three legs to Sedlacek. This will be much, much harder. Aspinall lacks the consistency of Noppert, but he can match him.
Their H2H record is 11-11, but Noppert has won their last five in a row, including a 10-7 win in the recent European Championship. We are being offered 2.00 about Noppert repeating that win, which does seem generous.
2025 PC Finals R3 Tip: 1 point Danny Noppert to win @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes. Boylesports
Jermaine Wattimena vs. Ryan Searle
We have backed Wattimena to win this quarter and he has got off to a great start. A 101.58 average against Plaisier and a 108.94 against Ryan Joyce today and a 6-2 win. Very impressive.
Searle has been AWOL for a while but he has come out punching. A 98 average against Beveridge in round 1 and 94.25 in a 6-5 win over Rydz today. Not a patch on Wattimena, however.
Their H2H record is 5-4 to Wattimena and he has won their last three. They have had five matches going to a deciding leg but never played a long format match. Wattimena has won all three of their matches in 2025 but hasn’t played that well. If he fires up tonight, Searle might get a bit of a shock.
Wattimena is the 1.73 favourite, Searle 2.10.
2025 PC Finals R3 Tip: 1 point Wattimena to win -1.5 legs @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes
Luke Littler vs. Ricardo Pietreczko
These two have a bit of history. Littler beat Pikachu 7-3 on the Euro Tour last year and then had a go at Littler for disrespecting him. It was bit pathetic and I dare say Littler will be looking forward to this a lot more than Pietreczko.
Littler is the massive favourite 1.07 favourite and it is not a great betting heat. Pietreczko can be a bit of a knob and he might try playing very slow, but he is not in Germany and he is going to get both barrels if he dicks about.
2025 PC Finals R3 Tip: 1 point Littler to win -5.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfair
Chris Dobey vs. James Hurrell
Hurrell will be in dream land to have made the third round, Dobey will have been glued to his TV watching Newcastle. I am not in a good mood with Dobey. He has cost me money the last two times I have backed him, and I really should know better.
He is a very talented bottler. 5-1 up against Crabtree today and he needed Crabtree to miss doubles to get a chance to win 6-5. Dobey has been lucky with the draw and faces another very inexperienced player in the first of the long format matches.
Hillbilly Hurrell is talking a good game and who knows, if he puts up a fight Dobey just might fold like a cheap suit, again.
They have never met before and it is hard to get much of a grip on this but I can’t not have a go with Hurrell. If Newcastle lose to City, Dobey will be crying, and in any case, Dobey is a very flaky player.
2025 PC Finals R3 Tip: 1 point James Hurrell to win @ 3.90 with Ladbrokes
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Josh Rock
Ratajski upset the form book with his 6-5 win over Gian Van Veen. He has denied us the potential for better matches latter in the tournament, but this is as far as he goes.
Rock turned it on earlier with a 6-0 win over Scott Williams, averaging 107.63. He barely missed a target.
Ratajski played well against Van Veen, but my guess is that it took a lot out of him. He nearly shat himself when the winning dart went in.
Their H2H record is 10-2 to Rock and the only long format match they played was a 10-5 win for Rock in the 2023 Grand Slam. I expect something similar.
