Thursday European Championship Darts Preview – JP
Thursday European Championship Darts Preview
The first round of this important tournament gets underway later this evening. James Punt has already posted an in-depth outright betting preview, his Thursday European Championship Darts Tips are below.
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Madars Razma
The opening match of the tournament and the first potential bananaskin for the favourite to win it, Dirk van Duijvenbode. He is in better form than Razma, winning seven of his last ten to Razma’s five, is the higher ranked player and is the heavier scorer.
What he has not done however, is to beat Razma. They have met three times and Razma has won all three and done so quite easily. 18-6 is the total legs score across the three. Razma is a relatively slow player, deliberate and takes his time while Dirk is a typical Dutch rat-a-tat merchant.
A slow player can knock the faster ones out of their stride and in a best of 11 leg format, the Latvian cannot be dismissed. Dirk can get a bit nervous at times and if Razma can frustrate him, the outsider is capable of winning this.
Thursday European Championship Darts Tips: 1 point Madars Razma to win @ 3.90 with Ladbrokes
Ryan Searle vs. Martin Lukeman
Another fascinating first round encounter. Lukeman has been one of the surprise packages on the Euro Tour in 2022 and he faces a player who is better, but low on confidence and losing a lot of matches. Lukeman is under no pressure. His aim at the start of the year was to keep his tour card and he has achieved that. Everything else is a bonus.
Searle is the higher ranked player but he has been struggling for a while now. He has won just three of his last fifteen matches, despite scoring well, especially in his last eight or nine. It could be that he is on the way back. He says he has started working harder again and that is reflected in his scoring, but he has picked up a losing habit and if Lukeman can hang in there, he could well press Searle’s panic button.
Their H2H record is 2-2 and Lukeman won their only match this year, a Euro Tour match in September, 6-4. The value lies with the outsider.
Thursday European Championship Darts Tips: 1 point Martin Lukeman to win @ 2.63 with Betfair, Betfred
Danny Noppert vs. Andrew Gilding
Both players have slipped back from their peak form of earlier in the year. Noppert won the UK Open in March and was going from strength to strength. His win rate in 2022 is 71% but he has lost four of his last ten and become a little less consistent than he was earlier in the year. That said, his B game has become pretty decent and his A game is top class.
Gilding was playing great stuff before the summer break and he reached the final of PC19 in July, losing 6-8 to Danny Noppert. However, Gilding won their other two matches in 2022 and four of their last five.
Gilding had six weeks out due to the summer break but he returned for ET12 in September and reached the final, losing 6-8 to Dave Chisnall. Since then, he has only played six matches and lost five. Has his form deserted him at just the wrong time?
Noppert is the 1.60 favourite with Gilding 2.50. Their H2H record gives Gilding a decent chance but his recent run of not playing very much and losing when he has is a worry. The temptation is to go with Gilding, but due to his most recent form being off, I will swerve this one.
Thursday European Championship Darts Tips: No Bet
Rob Cross vs. James Wade
We are on Cross to win the title, and this is a tough opener for him. Cross is in better form, winning nine of his last ten matches and winning PC 27 last Saturday. The win included a 110 average when beating Callan Rydz in the semi-final. His record against Wade is 9-10 but he lost three of their four latest matches in 2021.
James Wade has won six of his last ten matches and has not shown much in the way of consistency. He has only lost four of his thirteen first round matches in this event, but this time he is just the 29th seed and gets a tougher draw as a result.
Cross is the 1.67 favourite, Wade 2.30 and on recent form that looks about right. Hopefully Cross can get off to a good start in his strongest major. No bet.
Thursday European Championship Darts Tips: No Bet
Luke Humphries vs. Krzysztof Ratajski
Humphries is one of the form players coming into the tournament and the number 1 seed after winning four ET titles in 2022. He was runner up to Josh Rock on Sunday, despite hitting ten 180s in the thirteen legs played.
His 180s per leg rate was 77% in that match but he had a 100% record in two earlier rounds that day, hitting seven against Kuivenhoven and nine against Justicia. Strangely, he failed to hit a single one against Zonneveld and just one in his matches with Hopp and Pietreczko. A bit of famine or feast.
Ratajski Dominant H2H
Ratajski has won five of his last ten, is playing inconsistently but he is 4-0 against Humphries. That H2H record is a surprise and outside of Jonny Clayton, is Humphries’ worst H2H record.
Humphries has to get the Ratajski monkey off his back here. In his favour is that Ratajski has lost all four of his first round matches in this event.
Humphries is the 1.50 favourite to win but I will take him to have the most 180s at better odds. His display on Sunday was awesome and over the season his 180 per leg rate is 32.7% compared to 21.8% for Ratajski.
Thursday European Championship Darts Tips: 1 point Humphries to hit the most 180’s @ 1.67 with Betfred, Skybet
Nathan Aspinall vs. Josh Rock
We have backed Rock in the outright market as he enters the tournament in excellent form. He has been a winner waiting to happen and he did it on Sunday, beating Luke Humphries in the final. It was an incredible tournament with many top class performances, but Rock was different gravy.
He remains very inexperienced at major level, but he doesn’t seem that bothered and is looking forward to getting up on the stage. He points out that he has been doing it on the Euro Tour and this will be no different. Rock has won 19 of his last 21 matches and is in excellent form.
Injury Worries For Asp
Aspinall only played one match in the players championships events last weekend. I have no idea why he pulled out, it would seem a strange way to prepare if everything was OK. He has been battling with an injury in his throwing arm so it is always a possibility that he felt something and didn’t want to risk playing anymore. Aspinall has won six of his last ten matches. He has generally played well but been a little inconsistent.
There is no H2H record to go on here, but it has the potential to be a cracker. The bookies can’t separate them, and it should be a competitive match. Both players can hit the big numbers, both like to play at pace, and both can smash that treble 20. Aspinall’s seasonal rate is 28%, Rock 27%.
Thursday European Championship Darts Tips: 1 point over 5.5 180’s @ 2.10 with Betfred
Michael Smith vs. Karel Sedlacek
Smith won nine of his thirteen matches in last weekend’s players championship events but he wasn’t happy with his performance. Losing three of his last five was probably the reason and his inconsistency was poor. There were three ton plus averages but also five sub 90s and he sort of petered out as the four days went on. His tournament record is not good and he has only got beyond the second twice in eight attempts.
Karel Sedlacek has had a good season for someone without a tour card and he is an improved player, very straight, unflappable and dangerous. He isn’t in the same league as Smith however, and is the 3.75 outsider. His most recent form is not his best and he has lost six of his last ten matches. It is likely he needs Smith to have an off day if he is to win. They have met twice, with Smith winning both 6-5 and 6-2.
It is hard to see any edge here. No bet.
Thursday European Championship Darts Tips: No Bet
Damon Heta vs. Vincent van der Voort
Heta is in top form and very much a contender for the title. He won ET 13 in Gibraltar a couple of weeks ago and warmed up for this at last weekend’s players championship events. The Aussie won PC26 on Friday and reached two more semi-finals, winning 17 of his 20 matches in total. He played Van der Voort in PC 28 winning 6-2.
Van der Voort has lost five of his last ten matches and has a poor tournament record having played in ten European Championships and winning just three matches. He has lost eight first round matches and this looks very likely to be another.
Heta is the 1.40 favourite but I will take him to cover the handicap.
