2022 German Darts GP Preview and Tips – JP
2022 German Darts GP Preview and Tips
The third of this year’s European Tour events comes from Munich, Germany this weekend with the 2022 German Darts GP. It is the usual format with the top 16 seeds entering in round 2 on Sunday and the remaining 32 players playing the first round on Saturday. The final day is on Easter Monday.
This will be the fourth German Darts Grand Prix and Michael van Gerwen has won the previous three.
2022 German Darts GP – Seeded Players
Gerwyn Price
The top seed with an injured hand. His injury forced him out of the last euro tour event, but he has returned to playing a normal schedule and says his hand injury is improving and he will be out of his surgical dressing in a couple of weeks. His form has suffered as he has not been able to practice as much as usual. Price has lost five of his last ten matches, only hit one ton plus average in those ten and six sub 93s. It is hard to see him being able to play well enough over the five matches required to win the title.
Jose De Sousa
Has started playing well again, winning six of his last ten matches. He still finds winning tricky and of his last fifteen matches, eight have gone to a deciding leg. With a good draw Jose could have a good run, but winning the title? There are better alternatives.
Michael Smith
Playing well and getting close to tournament wins but falling short. Runner up at the World Championship and UK Open, more recently lost the quarter final of the last euro tour, PC6 and the semi-final of PC12 last weekend. Smith played poorly in the Premier League on Thursday and looked very much the old, frustrated, mentally fragile Smith. He has won seven of his last ten matches and could well have a long run, but the cigar remains elusive.
Peter Wright
Snakebite has lost six of his last ten matches and three on the trot. In last night’s Premier League match vs. Gerwyn Price, he was poor on the doubles and really should have been able to win the match had he been half decent on the outer ring. In six of his last eight matches, his checkout rate has been less than 31% and that is going to make winning difficult against top players.
Jonny Clayton
Still not playing at his very best, but there is still plenty of good stuff. He has won seven of his last ten matches, five with big ton plus averages, and his scoring has been consistently good. The lowest average in his last ten was 92.6, his best 109.1 when beating MVG last night. He does have the odd off night on the doubles but that is the only weak point in his game. Clayton has to be on the short list.
Joe Cullen
A winner of three titles in 2022 and very much a Euro Tour specialist. Cullen has lost five of his last ten matches and has gone out at the third-round stage in the first two Euro Tour events in 2022. He has become a much more effective player and wins matches when he’s not playing his best. However, losing five of his last ten is not great form and he is likely to meet someone who is just playing better. Not without a chance of winning, but his odds of 13.00 are a bit cramped.
Michael van Gerwen
The only man to have won this event and going for four in a row. MVG won the German Darts Championship a month ago, his first significant title for quite a while. His game is all about confidence and that will be higher than for some time. Van Gerwen has won eight of his last ten matches, hit six ton plus averages and has won three ranking titles in 2022. On the shortlist.
Brendan Dolan
Finally got his first win of 2022 in late March and since then he has started playing more like his old self, winning seven of his last ten. He reached the quarter final of PC8 at the end of March and the semi-final of PC13 last weekend. He was scoring well and looks dangerous again, but his Euro Tour record is poor.
Ryan Searle
Another player who had been playing below his best, but he hit form at the start of this month, and he has now won 14 of his last 16 matches. Searle won PC11 and followed that up with being runner up in PC12. A strong contender for the title.
Rob Cross
The runner up in Germany in the last Euro Tour event. He is a former runner up and beaten semi-finalist in this event. Cross is in good form, winning seven of his last ten matches. His scoring has noticeably improved, and he looks to be a possible winner again. He has reached two players championship semi-finals this year and four more quarter finals. He is edging closer to the winner’s circle.
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Has won eight of his last ten matches and is in much improved form. He reached the quarter final of PC5, averaged 108 but lost 3-6 to Joe Cullen. That was a sign that his form was improving, and he picked up his second PDC title last weekend by winning PC12, beating the in-form Ryan Searle 8-7 in the final. Another contender for the title.
Dimitri van den Bergh
Dancing Dimitri was knocking on plenty of doors but didn’t quite get a title earlier in the season. Runner up in PC4, a quarter finalist in the opening euro tour event, a semi-finalist in Germany in the last Euro Tour event and a beaten semi-finalist in PC5 last month. He has won six of his last ten matches, but his form has tailed off a bit.
Damon Heta
The Heat’s great standard of play in 2022 was finally rewarded with his third PDC title when he won PC5 last month. Since then, he made the semi-final of PC10, and PC12 last weekend. He has won seven of his last ten and is in great form. Another possible winner.
Luke Humphries
When he won PC1 at the start of February I thought he might kick on and win more, but that hasn’t quite happened. However, he has won six of his last ten and is scoring very well. Three of his last four defeats have been 5-6 and he is yet another on the short list.
Callan Rydz
Has won six of his last ten but he hasn’t really been firing in 2022. At his best he is a very heavy scorer, but he just isn’t in his best form of late.
Gabriel Clemens
The German Giant had been off the boil for a while but there are signs that he is hitting top form, winning eight of his last ten matches. He isn’t a plyer that shoots the lights out but his scoring in the last three weeks or so has been very healthy. With a decent draw, a bit of luck and home soil advantage, Clemens can have a good weekend.
Selected Non Seeded Players
Keane Barry
The UK Open semi-finalist is starting to realise his potential at senior level. He might be having a bit of mental let down after his great run at Minehead as he has lost seven of his last ten matches.
Jim Williams
Won his first PDC title last month and his form had hinted that he wasn’t far away from winning. He has lost five of his last ten matches and while his game remains in good shape, he does struggle against the top players. He is hard to beat, and a decent run is possible, but going all the way seems unlikely.
Martin Schindler
I’ve been keeping an eye on Schindler for a while now. He is improving after losing his way for quite some time. The German thrower is still young and will not have peaked yet. He lost the semi-final of PC6 to Jim Williams and was runner up to MVG in PC8 at the start of this month. Schindler has won six of his last ten matches.
Schindy can score very heavily and is a dangerous opponent, especially on home soil. The German crowds are very partisan, and they have successfully put some non-German players out of tournaments with well-timed whistles and so on. He just lacks the consistency to have a really deep run.
Karel Sedlacek
Evil Charlie was very good for us a month ago when he reached the quarter final of the German Darts Championship, beating Adrian Lewis, Chris Dobey and Jose De Sousa before losing to Rob Cross in the quarter final. It was the second time he had reached a euro tour semi-final and the first was here in 2019.
He won 19 matches in a row before that 4-6 loss to Cross. It wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see another good run. His win rate in 2022 is 75% and while he is only playing at Challenge Tour level, his confidence is high. After the withdrawal of Ratajski, Sedlacek gets a bye into the second round and a match against Rob Cross.
Dave Chisnall
Has won 65% of his matches this year and reached the semi-final of PC11 a couple of weeks ago. Since then he has won six of his last ten, but his scoring wasn’t great in those matches.
Madars Razma
Reached the final of PC7 at the end of last month but most recently has lost five of his last ten. A dangerous opponent but unlikely to be in contention for the title.
Martin Lukeman
Reached the last 16 in the last Euro Tour event and averaged 104 when beating Damon Heta in the second round. Lost 4-6 to MVG in the third but he enjoyed the experience, and he is playing well, winning eight of his last ten matches. It may be asking too much to expect him to get near the final, but he could have another good run.
2022 German Darts GP: The Draw
Gerwyn Price is the top seed and in the top quarter. The other seeds are Dolan, Searle and after Ratajski’s withdrawal, Gabriel Clemens. A couple of weeks ago, this would have looked like a weak quarter but Dolan, and especially Searle, have hit form and home favourite Clemens has hit good form. Price has not been at his best with his hand injury, and I can see Ryan Searle getting through this quarter, but Clemens makes a lot of appeal at huge odds.
The second quarter has Wright, Heta, Van den Bergh and Jonny Clayton as the seeds. That’s a tough quarter. The Heat is on fire, Van den Bergh has gone off the boil while The Ferret can never be written off. Wright is capable of anything, good or bad. A wide-open quarter, a very tough quarter, but Heta gets my vote.
The third quarter has De Sousa, Rydz, MVG and Cross as the seeded players. Another tough group and with MVG and Cross in form, the winner of their likely meeting in the third round should win the quarter and I’d fancy MVG to do it.
The last quarter’s seeds are Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Joe Cullen and Dirk van Duijvenbode. Another tough group and any of those four could reach the semi-final. I’ll go with the in-form Aubergenius at decent odds.
Ante Post Selections
It is a fascinating market. Michael van Gerwen is the 5.00 favourite and for the first time in a long time, he deserves to be. The only thing against him, are the odds. I think he has a very good chance of making it four German Darts Grand Prix in a row, but there are plenty of other contenders and those contenders no longer fear MVG. He remains one of the very best players, but not the mighty beast of a few years ago.
Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright are both not in great form, but they take up a big slice of the market, leaving some players in great form at very tasty odds.
Heavy Metal On Song
The form player in the draw is Ryan Searle. Heavy Metal has won fourteen of his last sixteen matches and a players championship title. His Euro Tour record is poor, with just a single quarter final to his credit, but he continues to improve and has the talent to win titles.
Damon Heta has been expensive to follow betting wise. He has been playing great for a while now, winning 75% of his matches in 2022. He is a heavy scorer and it is surprising that he hasn’t won more titles given just how well he is playing. Hopefully getting that players championship title a month ago will help to relax him when the winning post is in sight. He is too good a player not to be picking up many more titles and this could be one.
Aubergenius Can Go Well
Dirk van Duijvenbode is another who has won a players championship title in 2022 and if you can win on the pro tour, you can win on the Euro Tour. He has reached a Euro Tour semi-final and hopefully he can go one better this weekend.
The final selection is a big price outsider, Gabriel Clemens. His job has been made a little easier after being made the 16th seed after Ratajski’s withdrawal, so he has one less match to win. His draw is tough, but I can’t see a good draw this weekend, so he is not alone in that respect. He has hit good form, will have the crowd on his side and his odds are just too good to pass by.
