Friday World Series Darts Finals Preview

Hopefully you enjoyed James Punt’s ante-post tournament preview. If you haven’t read it already, you can check it out here. James will also be previewing every match, starting with the First Round this evening. Check out his Friday World Series Darts Finals tips below.

Kim Huybrechts vs. Michael Smith

These two have only met three times in the last three years. Their overall H2H record is 10-7 to Huybrechts but in the three most recent matches it’s 2-1 to Smith. Their most recent match was just last Friday and that went the way of Bully Boy with a 6-3 win.

Smith is flying under the radar a bit these days, but he is playing well and winning plenty of matches. His annual win rate is now 72% and is his best ever rate. Not only did Smith beat Huybrechts last Friday, but he also went on to win the title and he comes here having won nine of his last ten matches.

Huybrechts is constantly on the comeback trail these days, but he has been playing some good stuff. He had a good Super Series last week, winning 11 of his 15 matches and making the semi-final of PC24 and the quarter final of PC27.

Two players who are in good form, both winning plenty of matches, but one has a very recent win over the other. Smith is the 1.62 favourite, Huybrechts 2.38 and those odds are fair enough. Smith’s form in televised tournaments is not as good as his floor form, he has lost six of his last ten on telly and he may find this a harder task than it was last Friday.

Friday World Series Darts Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 with Skybet, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power

Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Gabriel Clemens

The Polish Eagle has a commanding 7-0 H2H record against Clemens. They last met in the World Championship in December 2020, and it was a close match, Ratajski winning 4-3.

Ratajski is having a bit of a strange season. His annual win rate is down to 59% from 70% last year, but he has won more prizemoney this year than any other. The reason being that his performances in the majors has improved. He reached the quarter finals in the World Championship, the quarter-final of the UK Open, the semi-final of the World Matchplay and the quarter final of the World Grand Prix. He has won plenty of floor titles, but he is now taking that form on to the stage.

Clemens is in good form, winning 11 of his 15 matches last week, and he was runner up in PC25 last Wednesday. It must be said that his scoring wasn’t that great at times, with five sub 90 averages and he lost three of those. He only just averaged over 90 when losing the final of PC25. His scoring is shy of that of Ratajski, but Clemens is an effective player and can still compete on lowish averages.

Ratajski must be fancied given his good form on stage this year, and that impressive H2H record against Clemens. He is the 1.57 favourite and much like the first match of the night, he should win but it might be closer than the odds suggest.

Friday World Series Darts Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes, Boylesports, Paddy Power

Maik Kuivenhoven vs. John Henderson

The bookmakers have Hendo as the 1.80 favourite here and I am not sure why. He has lost seven of his last ten matches and is up against a Dutch player, in Amsterdam. Everyone likes Hendo but the crowd will be with Kuivenhoven.

The Dutchman has won six of his last ten matches and won their only previous match 6-3 last year. He is not a heavy scorer as a rule and his annual average is 91. Henderson is in much the same boat, also averaging 91 and they are closely match in terms of stats. The one difference which stands out is that Henderson’s win rate in 2021 is just 42% compared with Kuivenhoven’s 56%.

Since winning the World Cup, Henderson has played six and won two and while he is much more experienced at playing on the big stages, that may be cancelled out by Kuivenhoven having home advantage.

Friday World Series Darts Tip: 1 point Maik Kuivenhoven to win @ 2.00 generally available

James Wade vs. Merv King

The King comes here in better form having won seven of his last ten matches compared to just four from ten for Wade. This will be their fifty third meeting and the H2H record is 27-24 to King with one draw. They have met twice this season and king has won both and he has won their last six matches. Their last match was just last week, with King winning 6-5.

James Wade has a good tournament record, winning in 2018 and reaching two other semi-finals, including last year. Recent form outweighs that, and Wade has lost four of his last five matches.

James Wade is the 1.62 favourite with King the 2.38 outsider. That is surprising given their recent and H2H form. Wade may be the higher ranked player, but that counts for little.

Friday World Series Darts Tip: 1 point Merv King to win @ 2.38 with Betvictor, Skybet

Niels Zonneveld vs. Dave Chisnall

Dave Chisnall has a 3-1 H2H record against Zonneveld but the Dutchman won their only meeting in 2021. The matches have been close and the total leg score being 21-18.

Chisnall is the heavier scorer, averaging 96 to Zonneveld’s 90, his checkout rate is better, he hits more 180’s and he is the better, more experienced player. Zonneveld has home advantage but has only played nine PDC televised major matches and won four.

Their recent form sees both players winning six of their last ten matches, but Zonneveld was poor in last weeks Super Series, winning just two matches and averaging 88. Chisnall had a much better series, winning eleven of his fifteen matches, reaching a semi-final, and averaging 95.3.

The inexperienced Zonneveld is hard to predict but he looks to be up against it here and Chisnall is the deserved 1.31 favourite.

Both players are in the top 20 for 180’s per leg and even when playing poorly last week, Zonneveld was hitting maximums at 0.34 per leg. So long as the match isn’t a quick one, and their past matches have not, we should see more than 5.

Friday World Series Darts Tip: 1 point over 5.50 180’s @ 2.10 with Skybet, SpreadEx

Jeffery de Zwaan vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode

The H2H record is 7-4 to The Aubergenius and he won 6-2 when they met last week. These two contemporaries have careers going in different directions. Injury has put De Zwaan’s into reverse, while Van Duijvenbode has really improved since having to go back to Q school in January 2020.

He rededicated himself to the game, but is still not a full time pro, and reached a euro tour final, the final of the World Grand Prix, the World Championship quarter final before winning his first pro tour title in April this year. He has been a runner up since then and last week he played 18 and won 14, reaching a quarter and semi-final. Dirk was very impressive last week in Barnsley, had eight ton plus averages and was back to his best.

De Zwaan’s win rate has collapsed to just 33% in 2021 and his seasonal average is just 90, compared to 96 for Duijvenbode.

Dirk is the 1.42 favourite and deservedly so. De Zwaan averaged 99.2 when losing 2-6 to Dirk last week. That was his third highest average of the year, and he got heavily beaten.

Friday World Series Darts Tip: 2 points Dirk Van Duijvenbode to win -1.5 legs @ 1.67 with Betvictor, Betfair, Paddy Power

Nathan Aspinall vs. Vincent van der Voort

The Asp has a 5-3 H2H record against Vincent but he will be facing an in-form Dutchman with a big home crowd behind him. Van der Voort won ten of his fourteen matches last week and hit three ton plus averages. He was fairly lucky with the draw and avoided many of the big names but when he did, he lost to Van den Bergh and Rob Cross. He also lost to Brendan Dolan and Ryan Miekle.

Van der Voort is going to be facing another big name and an in-form Nathan Aspinall. The Asp has been putting more work into his game, modified his darts and his form has really picked up. He reached the semi-final of the recent European Championship and won 11 of 15 matches last week.

Aspinall is the 1.42 favourite which looks a bit short to me given that Van der Voort is playing well and has home advantage. This could be a fairly close match, hopefully Aspinall prevails but if we get nine or ten legs, and we should, then over 5.5 180’s looks a bit of value. They were both hitting at around 0.3 last week and Aspinall was smashing the treble 20 at the European Championship, saying that the switch to longer, thinner points was allowing him to hit many more maximums.

Friday World Series Darts Tip: 1 point over 5.5 180’s @ 2.32 with Unibet 

Jose de Sousa vs. Danny Noppert

De Sousa has been below his usual standard of late, suffering a bit of a reaction to his second jab, but he has been showing signs of improvement. He won 14 of his 18 matches last week. It was a very consistent performance as he lost in the fourth round on all four days. He had three big 106 plus averages, but they were still a few flat spots. He is getting there, but not quite at his best.

Danny Noppert on the other hand has been in top form, having good runs in the big events, scoring well, but he wasn’t great in Barnsley last week, winning just three matches and averaging 93.7. In the last three months he has been averaging 97.3 so it is hard to confident that his good from at the Grand Prix and European Championship is still there, or has he lost a bit of form.

De Sousa Dominates The H2H

Their H2H record shows a 4-1 lead to De Sousa who has won their last four. All have been on the floor and the total leg score is 28-16. Past form suggests a fairly comfortable win for De Sousa, but this is on stage and Noppert has home support, in the last match of the night, and a few Heinekens will have been taken.

De Sousa is the 1.73 favourite and Noppert 2.20. The temptation is to go with Noppert given is recent big match performances, but last week’s efforts have cast a doubt over his form. Will a big home crowd lift his game? Maybe, but there is the chance that De Sousa finds his A game, it has been seen a few times recently, and that would be too much for Noppert. This is a no bet match for me.

-JamesPunt