2025 World Masters Saturday Night Preview – JP
2025 World Masters Saturday Night Preview
Finally some relief for James Punt with two winners this afternoon. Baby steps and all that… Check out his 2025 World Masters Saturday Night preview and tips below.
Afternoon Reflections
It was slim pickings this afternoon. Willy O’Connor threw the towel in after losing the first set. Gerwyn Price missed a match dart. He missed seven doubles and lost a match he should have won at a canter.
Peter Wright missed two darts to land the over 5.5 sets bet, but miracle of miracles, he checked out 120 to win the fifth set and finally we had a winner. Luke Humphries covered the 1.5 handicap, but Josh Rock was unable to get a set on the board, never mind two. It was still a losing session, in the tournament from hell.
Jonny Clayton vs. Ryan Searle
There was plenty to like about Clayton’s 3-1 win over Martin Schindler last night. Schindler was playing very well, averaging 105, but he was largely a spectator as Clayton ran riot, averaging 112.77 in the end, but higher for much of the match.
It was the best The Ferret has played for a long time. It took two 13 dart legs for Schindler to win his set. Clayton had a seventeen dart leg to win the match, but he had hit a ten dart leg, and eleven, two twelves and a sloppy sixteen. It was the best performance of the first round.
Ryan Searle beat Chris Dobey 3-1 in one of the worst matches of the first round. Both players averaged in low 90s and Searle was winning legs with seventeen darts and even a twenty dart leg win. It was all a bit messy.
H2H Close
Their H2H record is very close, with a narrow 5-4 lead for Clayton. The Welshman has won three of their last four.
Clearly, if Clayton can play anywhere close to how he did last night, he wins, but it is very unlikely that he will. Last night’s 112.77 was his highest average in a TV match and these things like are not like London Buses. It is a bit like a golfer shooting a 61 one day and trying to follow it up with another low round, it rarely happens. A couple of misses, and suddenly the game feels hard again.
Clayton is the 1.91 favourite, Searle 1.95. The market does not believe that Clayton can carry his form through to this. I tend to agree, but so long as he can keep being sharp on the doubles, that should be enough.
2025 World Masters Saturday Night Tip: 1 point Jonny Clayton to win @ 1.91 generally available
Cameron Menzies vs. Nathan Aspinall
Our last remaining outright hope, Cameron Menzies, beat Dave Chisnall 3-1, but it was not a great performance. The notable feature of the match was Chisnall missing nine doubles. Menzies won the last set with fourteen and fifteen dart legs, his other four were sixteen, twenty, seventeen and eighteen. The match started with poor darts, but eventually it picked up.
Aspinall beat Andrew Gilding 3-0, averaging 103.77. Gilding averaged 101.26, so it was a case of Aspinall doing the right things at the right time. His checkout rate was 75% and that just killed Gilding’s chances. I was impressed. Clearly, there nothing wrong with his throw and this Bursitis thing is not causing him any bother.
Their H2H record is 4-1 to Aspinall.
Their respective performances last night suggest that Aspinall wins at a canter, but Menzies can, and usually does, play a lot better than he did. Aspinall was close to his best. It would be no surprise to see Menzies up his game, and maybe Aspinall missing a few more doubles, but I fear our last outright bet will be making the short trip home.
Aspinall is the 1.62 favourite, Menzies 2.38. I will take Aspinall to cover the handicap.
2025 World Masters Saturday Night Tip: 1 point Aspinall to win -1.5 sets @ 2.20 with Livescorebet
Luke Littler vs. James Wade
I was hoping that Andy Baetens could win a set against Littler, but it was a 3-0 for the World Champion. A 104 average, and six out of nine on the doubles. He only lost one leg in the end.
James Wade ground out a 3-2 win over Mike de Decker. They missed twenty five doubles between them and neither player was able to get a grip on the match. Wade hit three fourteen dart legs, and four of seventeen or more. It was all a bit Jekyll and Hyde.
Their H2H record is not extensive. They have met just twice and it is one win apiece. The first was a 6-5 win for Wade in a Players Championship match a year and a day ago. The second was a 10-7 win for Littler in the UK Open shortly afterwards. Both matches were back when Littler was still a little bit green.
Littler is the 1.20 favourite, Wade 5.75. If Wade is to make any impact in the match it will have to be with top class doubling, and he was poor in that department last night. This looks like a very obvious win for the favourite. No bet.
2025 World Masters Saturday Night Tip: No Bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Dimitri van den Bergh
It was little more than a workmanlike performance from MVG to beat Bradley Brooks 3-1 in the first round. There was some good stuff and some not so good. Two legs were won with 20 and 21 darts, but the rest were all won in four of five visits to the board. He missed twelve doubles, which was not great.
Van den Bergh beat Gary Anderson 3-1 in the final match of the night yesterday. It was a strong performance, averaging 102.43, checking out at 54.5% and hitting four maximums. He lost the first set to some great darts from Anderson, but Van den Bergh than hit four consecutive 14 dart legs to win the next two sets. It was a 15 and 13 to make it 3-1.
Anderson did miss on double to win a leg, but otherwise, Van den Bergh had him under the cosh the whole way to the finish line. It was a good example of how good Van den Bergh can be, and that he is a better player on TV.
MVG Dominant
Their H2H record is emphatic, 20-1 to MVG. Their last meeting was here last year when MVG beat Dimitri 11-2 in the semi-final, back in the days when it was a comprehensible format.
MVG is the 1.37 favourite, Van den Bergh 3.30. Given that H2H record it is very hard to believe Dimitri can win. If this were a normal format, a handicap bet on MVG would be the call, but is this one? One break of throw can change to whole complexion of a match. No bet.
