Friday Afternoon Czech Darts Open Preview

It is rare to find a Euro Tour session with so many matches that make so little appeal betting wise, but the first rounds can be very sterile when it comes to value, and this Friday afternoon Czech Darts Open draw is one of them. Mismatches or two players with equally dubious form make little appeal.

There is only one match that looks interesting, and the organisers have kept it till last. (outright preview here).

Ricky Evans vs. Josh Rock

These two made the quarter finals last weekend, Rock losing to Van Den Bergh, Evans to Aspinall. Both played some really good stuff, both have lost five of their last ten matches and they have never met before.

Ricky Evans has been having some trouble on the outer ring, with six of his last ten seeing checkout rates of 33% or less, and he lost four of those.

Rock lost his next three matches after that quarter final defeat, all with sub 90 averages, but he picked himself up on Wednesday to reach the quarter final of PC15. That suggests he was just worn out after too much travelling and playing five consecutive days in two different countries.

Well Worth Watching

This looks worth watching, but hard to call. Rock is the coming man, but still lacks experience, and his schedule has been crazy. It has been exactly the same schedule for Evans but he has been round the block a few times and should know how to pace himself.

Rock is the heavier scorer but, just like Evans, his weakness recently, has been on the outer ring. Like Evans, six of his last ten matches have seen checkout rates of 33% or under and just like Evans, he lost four of them.

Trying to find anything more than Evans’ experience or Rock’s precocious scoring power to separate them is impossible. Hard to separate is an understatement.

The market makes Rock the 1.53 favourite, Evans the 2.60 outsider. Given Rock’s eye catching performances recently, that is to be expected, but any value perhaps lies with Evans.

I will take the coward’s way out and say that we will see a close match, won by whomever is better at the doubles, and I can’t call that.

Friday afternoon Czech Darts Open Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 generally available

The evening session selections will follow later, but it doesn’t look a lot better in terms of possible bets, but I’ll drill down and see if there are any nuggets.

-JamesPunt