Hungarian Darts Trophy Quarter-Finals Tips

Today we head into the quarter final stages of this Euro Tour event after an exciting session earlier. Our two ante-post selections Wright (5.50) and Humphries (51.00) are still in the running so hopefully we can get a winner on the board. Check out James Punt’s Hungarian Darts Trophy Quarter-Final Tips below.

Joe Cullen vs. Luke Humphries

The H2H stats show a 3-0 lead for Joe Cullen, which is a little surprising. That said they have not met since 2019 and it is fair to say that both players have improved since then, but who by the most? I would argue Humphries. Still just 25 years old he is still learning and improving and is enjoying a good season, but not as good as Cullen’s. Humphries has lost two finals; Cullen has won two finals. Apart from that their stats are very similar, similar averages, similar checkout rates, similar win rates and so on. Humphries has only lost seven legs across his three matches but Cullen is likely to be a tougher nut to crack.

They have hit 20 180’s between them. 0.47 per leg for Cullen, 0.45 for Humphries. Will we see a maximum fest tonight? Let’s hope so.

Hungarian Darts Trophy Quarter-Final Tip: 1 point over 6.50 180’s @ 2.30 with Unibet

Gerwyn Price vs. Brendan Dolan

Dolan upheld the honour of Northern Ireland by beating Michael van Gerwen 6-5. He was aided and abetted by MVG just not being able to hit a double at the death, missing four match darts. That said Dolan was 3-5 down and came back with a 14 and a 15 dart leg to square the match and put MVG under pressure.

Dolan’s reward is a match vs. world number 1, Gerwyn Price, who it must be said, didn’t play like the world number when beating Damon Heta 6-4. The Iceman averaged just 89.9 and had to change his darts mid match. His darts manufacturer is trying to push a new Gerwyn Price model but clearly Mr. Price doesn’t like him so he switched to his old ones and hey presto, he wins five of the last six legs to win. I assume he will now stick with the old darts.

The H2H stats show a 6-4 lead for Price, not as dominant as many would think. They have met three times in 2021 and it is 2-1 to Price. Both his wins were in semi-finals winning one 7-2 and one 7-6. Dolan won the other 6-2.

Price Is Fav

Price starts as the 1.36 favourite but he may need to up his game. Maybe just using his old darts is all he needs but he has looked a bit flat so far. The crowd was well behaved today (not pissed more like) but we will see what they are like tonight and whether we get the whistler back.

Dolan can give Price problems, he very nearly knocked him out of the World Championship, losing by the narrowest of margins. We haven’t seen the best of Dolan yet, two averages below his seasonal average suggests he can do better. If Price can find his A game he wins, but he is averaging 91 so far so he is not nailed on.

The History Maker has another World Champion to beat if he is to make the semi-final and he can’t be ruled out. Again, Dolan is the odds on favourite getting a +2.5 leg start and I would want something nearer evens. No bet.

Jose de Sousa vs. Adam Gawlas

De Sousa didn’t play well this afternoon, but Aspinall was worse. It did not turn out to be the classic I was expecting, by a long way. Gawlas also made a monkey of me, whipping Lewy Williams 6-2 and averaging 98. That is the thing with the young players, the consistency isn’t there yet and their performances can swing wildly from match to match. Gawlas was some 15 points up on his previous average and looked a different player. Will he revert to his earlier form, or stay at the high level?

They have played just the once, two months ago and De Sousa won 6-2, averaging 106. De Sousa has not been close to his A game so far. He is around seven points of his seasonal average but still only dropped five legs. He has the gears to close out a match even if he starts slowly, which he has done in both matches so far.

De Sousa Favoured

I suspect De Sousa will have too much for Gawlas. This is the business end of the event now and De Sousa knows what is coming. Gawlas is in unknown territory and bound to feel it at some stage.

De Sousa is the 1.20 favourite, Gawlas the 5.00 outsider. Not really my kind of odds.

De Sousa is known as the most prolific 180 hitter in darts but so far he has struggled, hitting just two. This may be where his struggles lie. It will probably be Sod’s Law in effect and he will find his maximum hitting boots, but Gawlas has hit eight so far at a rate of 0.27 per leg, compared to 0.11 for De Sousa. It’s worth a small punt.

Hungarian Darts Trophy Quarter-Final Tip: 0.5 point Adam Gawlas to hit the most 180’s @ 4.80 with Ladbrokes

Peter Wright vs. Michael Smith

Wright got a bye into the quarter final after William Borland withdrew for personal reasons. That may not play into his hands. Wright has only played the one match and he wasn’t very good. He could have done with a match to fine tune his game.

Michael Smith dismissed Keane Barry 6-1 but it was a poor affair with both averaging 84 but Barry was just 17% on the doubles and Smith just 32% which is always a worry.

The H2H stats show a 22-11 lead for Wright and he has won the last four. They have played in six PDC quarter finals and wright has won five, the last five in a row. Snakey just needs to do enough to frustrate Smith, wait for him to miss a couple of doubles and go for the kill.

Wright is the 1.53 favourite which looks about right given his winning run and H2H record. Smith was excellent last night, poor this afternoon. Which one turns up to night? We have to wait and see. We have backed Wright for the title and that is enough interest for me. No bet.

That is it from me this weekend. Back next week with the World Cup of Darts, so look out for the preview in midweek.

-JamesPunt