Players Championship Friday Evening: First Round Matches

James Punt has already posted his ante-post tournament preview and you can read it here. He has also previewed every Players Championship Friday Evening match, check out his free tips below.

Vincent van der Voort vs. Jelle Klassen

These two have played no less than 21 times and Van der Voort holds a narrow 11-10 lead. They have only played six times in the last five years and in that period, it is 3-3. Their H2H record isn’t giving us many pointers.

On recent form things don’t look good for Vincent who has lost five of his last six matches with four sub 90 averages. Jelle Klassen, a late replacement for Jamie Hughes, isn’t having a good year. His win rate is down to 43% and he has lost 5 of his last ten pro tour matches. His seasonal average is 90.3, only a few points shy of Van der Voort’s 93.0. Vinny’s win rate is a healthy 60% and he is the 1.67 favourite to win. There doesn’t seem to be much value in this match.

Stephen Bunting vs. Gary Anderson

Anderson has won their last five meetings, including two this year. The Flying Scotsman has had a poor season with a win rate of just 53%, only slightly better than his injury affected 2019 season. He has started to show some better form recently, winning six of his last ten matches and hitting five ton plus averages. He is struggling against the better players still and we have to ask, is Bunting in that category?

The Bullet has won seven of his last ten and is having a better season prizemoney wise thanks to two major semi-finals. His win rate is only 58% but his seasonal average is up to 94.7. Solid but not spectacular. His scoring in recent matches has been inconsistent and while his A game looks good, his B game isn’t quite cutting it.

Their H2H record suggests Anderson wins this. He has won nine of his eleven first round matches and is the 1.80 favourite to make it ten.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point Gary Anderson to win @ 1.80 with Skybet

Daryl Gurney vs. Alan Soutar

With this being Soutar’s first year on the pro tour, these two have met just the once and it was the Scotsman who won 6-3. Superchin’s win rate in 2021 is 58% and his seasonal average 94.3. He has won six of his last ten matches but his scoring has been inconsistent.

Soutar started the season very brightly, beating big names and looking right at home on the pro tour. He has won 61.5% of hiss matches and has a seasonal average of 93.5. He too has won six of his last ten matches and there is not a lot to separate the two.

Gurney has much more big tournament experience and won the title here in 2018. Soutar has played in just the one PDC major, reaching the last 16 in this this year’s UK Open. That was also held at this venue so both players have some positive mental associations with Minehead.

Superchin is the 1.73 favourite, but this looks to be a bit of a minefield for punters. No Bet.

Raymond van Barneveld vs. Maik Kuivenhoven

Kuivenhoven has made it a speciality to beat fellow Dutchmen who also happened to have won World Championships. He has beaten Barney twice in 2021 and has also taken down MVG twice. Having a winning H2H record against the two giants of Dutch darts is a feather in his cap. He has lost six of his last ten matches, however.

Barney is playing well enough in his comeback year but is not pulling up any trees either. He has won six of his last ten matches but failed to get out of the group stage at the Grand Slam last week. He only averaged 81.6 when losing 3-6 to Kuivenhoven last month, way below his seasonal average of 94. That said, Kuivenhoven only averaged 80, so not the best match.

Where barney does have a big advantage over Kuivenhoven is an extensive experience of playing televised majors. Kuivenhoven on the other hand has only played nine and lost six.

Van Barneveld is the 1.58 favourite and Kuivenhoven 2.50. There is a bit of value in Kuivenhoven’s odds, but it is a hard match to get excited about.

Damon Heta vs. Steve Lennon

Steve Lennon comes here having lost ten of his last eleven matches, and he faces one of the heaviest scorers on tour. Heta is averaging 96.4 in 2021 with a 64% win rate. He has played above that average in eight of his last ten matches and won seven of them. He has actually won ten of his last thirteen and only lost to MVG (twice) and Brendan Dolan. He is in very good form.

Lennon is averaging 92.7 with a win rate of just 46%. His only win in his last eleven match was a 6-0 against Andy Hamilton. He followed that up with a 101.8 against Jonny Clayton but lost 5-6. That was a reminder of what he can do but more often than not recently he is averaging in the low or sub 90 range.

Lennon won their only previous match, a 6-2 win back in March, but he can’t be given much chance here.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point Damon Heta to win -1.5 legs @ 2.20 with Ladbrokes

Rob Cross vs. Jermaine Wattimena

The in-form Cross faces the overrated Dutchman, Jermaine Wattimena and is the 1.33 favourite. They have never met before which is a bit of a surprise.

Wattimena is having a bad year, his win rate is down to 49%, a career low, and his seasonal average down to 91.9. He has won five of his last ten matches but hasn’t won back-to-back matches since July.

Cross has a win rate of 68% and is averaging 96.4 but he has been a bit better than that recently.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point Cross to win -2.5 legs @ evens generally available

Callan Rydz vs. Mensur Suljovic

Which Mensur will turn up tonight? The player that smashed up Matt Campbell 5-0 last week, or the one that lost 5-10 to Fallon Sherrock the following match? He averaged 105 vs. Campbell and just 84 against Sherrock. Suljovic’s last six matches have seen averages of 101.7, 90, 100.6, 91.5, 105.8 and 84.1. Highly unpredictable would be an understatement.

Callan Rydz is arguably more concentrated on playing (and winning) the World Youth Championship this weekend. He says he is not that bothered about the Players Championship and his eyes are on winning the abridged World Youth Championship that will be held on Sunday.

That may mean he plays with freedom tonight and win or be a bit distracted and lose. Suljovic is 4-0 up in the H2H’s and on his recent pattern of play, is due a good performance.

The bookies can’t split them with Rydz a best priced 1.91 and Suljovic 1.95. With Rydz having his mind on something else, I will give this a miss.

Jose de Sousa vs. Devon Petersen

This is all about Petersen. His form has evaporated in 2021 after a very good 2020. He comes here having lost nine of his last ten matches and his win rate is just 44% and his seasonal average down to 90. He hasn’t averaged over 95 in his last 24 matches and he is up against one of the heaviest scorers in the game. One straw he has to clutch at is that he is 3-0 up on De Sousa but two of those were last year when Petersen was a player and the other in 2011.

De Sousa may not be at his very best at the moment, but he plays at a different level to Petersen. De Sousa was poor in the Grand Slam last week, but his B game should be enough and if he finds his A game it could be a thrashing.

De Sousa is the top ranked player in the competition, and he gets the lowest ranked qualifier in this first round. Petersen has lost his previous three first round matches here and is the 4.50 outsider tonight. If The Special One was in better form, a bigger bet would be in order, but he’s not at his best.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point De Sousa to win -2.5 legs @ 2.00 with Skybet

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Ryan Miekle

We are on Dirk to go all the way and he is the 1.33 favourite to beat the out of form Miekle. The Barber has lost seven of his last ten matches and failed to average over 90 in his last six.

The Aubergenius has got his scoring boots back and that makes him a very dangerous opponent. These two have not met before but I’m taking Dirk to make a good start to the weekend.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point Dirk van Duijvenbode to win -2.5 legs @ 2.10 with SpreadEx

Gerwyn Price vs. Jason Lowe

Jason Lowe had a good debut season on the pro tour last year but his form in 2021 has not been so good. His win rate has dropped from 61% to 47% and his seasonal average dropping a point to 93. He has won six of his last ten but not beaten anybody of note outside of a 6-4 win over Daryl Gurney and that said more about a poor effort by Superchin. He can still throw in the odd ton or high 90’s average but he has generally been struggling lately.

Price we know all about and he is the 1.17 favourite to win. He might have to be a bit more on his game than he was in his group stage matches last week but he is 3-0 against Lowe and he wants to add this title to his collection. Price has won two of his matches with Lowe 6-2 and that is worth a punt tonight.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 0.5 point Price to win 6-2 @ 5.00 with Skybet

Luke Humphries vs. Jason Heaver

Both players have won six of their last ten, but Humphries won their only previous match 6-4 three weeks ago. Cool Hand Luke has not been at his best scoring wise with too many low scoring matches, and he is too short at 1.33 to win the match.

Heaver is a light scorer and very inconsistent, but he is has taken down some big names in his debut season. With Humphries not at his best, Heavers is not without a chance, but this is not a great looking betting match. No bet.

Michael Van Gerwen vs. Kevin Doets

All Dutch affair between the Master of Minehead, six-time champion MVG and a young player who many are tipping for big things. Doets has not got a tour card but has played in a few pro tour events and given a good account of himself, taking down a few big names including a 6-4 win against Van Gerwen in August. He averaged 102 in that match so MVG will know that he cannot afford to coast here.

MVG remains the best scorer in the game but despite his repeated claims that everyone is scared of him, they are not and Doets has nothing to lose here.

MVG is the 1.13 favourite with Doets a 7.00 shot. I have not seen enough of Doets to say he is worth a punt but at the final Super Series he beat Aspinall, took five legs off Ratajski, four off De Sousa and three off Rob Cross.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point Kevin Doets to win + 3.5 legs @ 1.80 generally available

Chris Dobey vs. William O’Connor

It is 2-2 in the H2H’s and O’Connor has won seven of his last ten to Dobey’s five. However, Dobey has been playing some really good darts in the last couple of months and picked up his second pro tour title of the year at the start of this month. Since that win he last lost five of his following eight matches. He was very disappointing at last week’s Grand Slam and he looked like a player that wanted it too much and thought his good form would be enough to get through the group stage. It wasn’t because he couldn’t reproduce his good form on the floor. If he wants this too much, he could crash and burn early.

O’Connor beat Dobey 5-3 in a qualifying match for the Grand Slam (Dobey was a late replacement for Van den Bergh in the end) three weeks ago and he reached the semi-final of the penultimate players championship qualifier earlier in the month, beating Jonny Clayton 6-5 in one match. There is little else in his form to suggest he is going to have a good run this weekend, but it is a reminder that Dobey has to get his head down and work hard here.

Dobey is the 1.50 favourite with O’Connor a 2.88 shot. There is a bit of value in O’Connor’s odds but If Dobey turns it on there is only one winner. No bet.

Peter Wright vs. Keane Barry

Wright managed to work his way into the final last week but outside of his wins over Sherrock and Smith, he wasn’t that impressive. He says he doesn’t like Minehead on account of the roads being shitty. He has gone out in the first round in two of the last four years which may have more to do with it. Both players have won five of their last ten matches and have never met before. The pressure is on Wright. Barry needs to play his A game or hope that Wright is off the boil.

Wright is the 1.29 favourite which is of no interest, but he has been banging in a lot of 180’s lately and hit 51 last week at 0.46 per leg, something that Keane won’t be able to match.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point Wright to win and have the most 180’s @ 1.67 with Betfair, Boylesports

Dave Chisnall vs. Ritchie Edhouse

Chizzy holds a 9-3 H2H record over Edhouse but in 2021 it is 2-2 with all of those matches ending 6-4.

Chisnall has been playing some good stuff of late without getting the expected returns, but he did reach the semi-final of PC28 a few weeks ago, beating Edhouse 6-4 in the second round, averaging 100 in that match.

Edhouse doesn’t have the fire power of Chisnall, but he has played well against him in their two recent matches but losing both 4-6. A repeat of that would not be a great surprise.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 0.5 point Dave Chisnall to win 6-4 @ 6.00 with SpreadEx

Jonny Clayton vs. Alan Tabern

These two have only met on the Home Tour with The Ferret winning 5-2. In the flesh he should better that. Tabern can have his moments but not very often and Clayton is a consistently high scorer. Tabern has played five first round matches in this event and won one, back in 2009 and that remains his only match won.

Players Championship Friday Evening Tip: 1 point under 8.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfair

-JamesPunt