Saturday Evening EC Darts Preview and Tips – JP
Saturday Evening EC Darts Preview
It was another solid session for James this afternoon with two winners from three tips. Unfortunately, our final outright hope Josh Rock succumbed to Michael Smith in an a cracker of a contest. Check out James Punt’s Saturday Evening EC Darts tips below.
Ross Smith vs. Dimitri van den Bergh
Both players averaged 101 in their first round matches, Smith beating Joe Cullen 6-4 and Van den Bergh Daryl Gurney 6-2. Dimitri getting a ton plus was a surprise as his form had been off coming into the tournament.
Smith was particularly good on the doubles, checking out at 75%. We tend to look at his 180 hitting as his biggest strength (ranked 13th for 180s per leg) but his doubling has been very good recently and that will make it a lot easier to take his chances, created by hitting the 180s.
He has won six of his last ten matches and isn’t one of the most consistent players around, but he is playing well and seems quite confident. He is 3-2 against Van den Bergh, but most of that form is from 2018 or earlier and it was the Belgian who won their only match this year, 6-2 in August.
Flash In The Pan?
Van den Bergh didn’t have a lot to do against Superchin who wasn’t at the races, but he got his head down and got the job done quickly. It ended a run of six straight defeats, and it was his best performance for a couple of months. Is he back in form, or was it just a flash in the pan? It is hard to say, but he will be facing a stiffer challenge tonight. Dimitri has had a few nightmares on the doubles recently and I feel that this match will be won or lost on the outer ring this evening.
Smith just seems the more consistent player right now and I’ll take him to be the better finisher. Both hit the 180s at a healthy rate and in what looks like it could a reasonably close match, we should get an overs situation.
Saturday Evening EC Darts tips: 1 point Ross Smith to win @ 2.38 with Betvictor
Saturday Evening EC Darts tips: 1 point over 10.5 180s @ 1.79 with Unibet
Peter Wright vs. Roby-John Rodriguez
Rodriguez played the part of giant killer last night, beating Gerwyn Price 6-4. It wasn’t a great scoring performance, he averaged just 90, but it was a great result. It doesn’t get any easier for him however, as he now faces the World Champion, Peter Wright.
Wright will be fancying his chances now that MVG and Price are out. He beat Ryan Meikle 6-2 and averaged 103.4 without really trying. He has won seven of his last ten matches with half of them seeing ton plus averages.
Their H2H record is 4-2 to Wright and he won their only match in 2022, 6-4.
There might be a bit of a mental let down for Rowby-John after the big high of last night and Snakebite will be ready to take advantage.
Wright is the 1.28 favourite, Rodriguez 4.33 and I’ll take Wright to cover the handicap.
Saturday Evening EC Darts tips: 1 point Peter Wright to win -2.5 legs @ 1.67 with Ladbrokes
Jonny Clayton vs. Dave Chisnall
Two more players who will be thinking that they have a great chance of a major victory, and a first for Chisnall. It took Clayton seven attempts before Clayton got his first win over Chisnall but since he got it, it has been nip and tuck between them with three wins each. They have played five times in 2022 and it is 3-2 to Chizzy, including a 5-6 win last month. They met at this stage of this event in 2019 and Chisnall won 10-4.
Clayton has won seven of his last ten matches, as has Chisnall and half those matches saw ton plus averages. It was Chizzy who put in the performance of the first round when beating Stephen Bunting 6-0 and averaging 107. He has two tournament wins in the last couple of months and he is full of confidence.
Clayton is the 1.80 favourite, Chisnall the 2.10 outsider and that looks the wrong way round to me. Chisnall is very nearly at his best while Clayton is only playing at about 90% in 2022.
Saturday Evening EC Darts tips: 1 point Dave Chisnall to win @ 2.10 generally available
Chris Dobey vs. Jose de Sousa
Dobey finally broke his MVG hoodoo with a 6-5 win last night. We had MVG to take it in a decider but fair play to Dobey who hit an 11 dart leg to dash our hopes. How he reacts to that landmark win will be interesting. He would not be the first player to follow up a win against ’the best in the world’, by playing a stinker. He has won seven of his last ten matches and has been hitting some big numbers.
Billy Big Bollocks (as MVG refers to De Sousa) beat Martin Schindler 6-1 with both players averaging over a ton. He has won six of his last ten matches but consistency is not a big part of his game right now. The Special One hits plenty of big averages but three of his last ten have included three sub 90s.
Dobey Dominant H2H
Their H2H record is interesting, 5-0 to Dobey. We saw him end his 0-11 H2H record with MVG last night and it would be ironic if De Sousa did the same here.
De Sousa is the 1.67 favourite despite that H2H record for Dobey and the value has to be with Dobey. He is unlikely to run away with it and we could see a good match if they both bring their A games, which have both been on display quite a few times recently.
