Sunday Afternoon EC Darts Preview

Well, it was quite a night on Sunday. Six tips, six winners. Perfection from Punt. Let’s hope for more of the same today. Check out James Punt’s Sunday Afternoon EC Darts tips below.

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Danny Noppert

An all Dutch affair for the opening quarter final. Dirk van Duijvenbode has won eight of his last ten matches. He was runner up at the recent World Series of Darts finals and runner up to Damon Heta at PC26 just over a week ago. He is having plenty of good runs and has won two players championship events in 2022. This will be his sixth senior PDC major quarter final and he has won just one of the previous five.

Danny Noppert has gone all the way in a major already this year, winning the UK Open in March. Noppert has also played in five previous ranked major quarter finals, and he won four, including beating Dirk 16-11 in the World Matchplay quarter final in July. His recent form sees six wins from his last ten matches and he hasn’t been playing quite as well as Van Duijvenbode.

Noppert Edges H2H

Their H2H record is 6-3 to Noppert and in TV matches 2-1, including two this year at the UK Open and Matchplay, 10-2 and 16-11 respectively. In 2022, it is 3-1 to Noppert.

Dirk is playing slightly better in recent weeks but Noppert is more tried and tested in these big quarter finals on TV.

Van Duijvenbode is the market favourite at 1.80 and Noppert 2.05. A good case can be made for both players and Dirks massive 180 firepower is a great weapon, but Noppert matched him in that department in the Matchplay quarter finals, both hitting 10. I will go for the steely calmness of Noppert to get the better of the emotional Van Duijvenbode once again.

Sunday Afternoon EC Darts tips: 1 point Danny Noppert to win @ 2.06 with Unibet

Luke Humphries vs. Michael Smith

Smith beat Josh Rock 10-8 in a match of the highest quality. He was pushed all the way and took advantage of a missed double from Rock to win rather than it going to a last leg decider. That makes it seven wins from his last ten matches.

Humphries is now a marginally heavier scorer than Smith over the last twelve months and he is in slightly better form, winning eight of his last ten. He was runner up in PC8 this time last week, losing out to Josh Rock, who Smith defeated yesterday.

Their H2H record is 4-4 but Humphries has won the last four, but two of those were Home Tour matches and they don’t really count in my book, but clearly, Humphries is a player still on the rise, while Smith we know all about.

Major-less

Neither player has yet won a ranked major, Smith has been a runner up in four, Humphries one. In terms of TV Major ranked quarter finals, Smith has played sixteen and won nine. Humphries has played five and won just one. Smith has much more experience, but Humphries has won four Euro Tour titles in 2022 and Smith one. Humphries has gotten used to winning titles, five in 2022, while Smith is associated with almost winning. There is no doubting that Smith has the bigger monkey on his back.

Humphries didn’t play great against his mate Ryan Searle yesterday and it was a typical mates match, disappointing and a bit flat, While Smith had to find his best to get past Rock. He was clearly delighted with the win, but at what point does he start to feel the weight of that big monkey?

Closely Matched

The bookies can’t separate the two. Humphries is a best priced 1.91 and Smith 1.95. Total 180’s might be a place to play with both very capable in the department, but at 2.38 for over 12.5 they is no value there.

If I had to have a bet, it would be on Humphries. At some point today, Smith is going to think about the winning post and The Monkey. So far, the monkey has always won. No bet.

Sunday Afternoon EC Darts tips: No Bet

Chris Dobey vs. Dave Chisnall

Dave Chisnall has a similar sized primate on his back as Smith. He has played 25 ranked TV majors winning 8 and he has lost 4 semis and 4 finals. Dobey has played in 6 and won 2, both back in 2019. Chisnall is the more experienced player at this level, but not with a lot of success.

Dobey has beaten MVG and backed that up with a comfortable win over De Sousa, who was rubbish on the doubles. He does get very tight at times, but so far he has just about been able to gather himself together and get the win. He has won eight of his last ten matches and is playing well.

Playing Well

Chisnall has won seven of his last ten, is also playing well, but he has the advantage of having two tournament wins recently. He won the Belgian Darts Open and PC 25 last Thursday. He might be starting to believe that this is going to be the one.

Their H2H record is 6-4 to Chisnall but they haven’t met since 2019. That was a Euro Tour final and Chizzy won 8-3. I remember it having tipped up Dobey to win the tournament as he was in great form at the time.

Neither player is bankable at the latter stage of tournaments and it could be that both players freeze under the pressure of expectation. I suspect that Chisnall’s recent successes should help him to be positive, rather than dwell on past failures.

Chisnall is the 1.57 favourite but I’ll chance him on the handicap.

Sunday Afternoon EC Darts tips: 1 point Chisnall to win -1.5 legs @ 1.90 with Unibet

Peter Wright vs. Ross Smith

Wright is the 1.36 favourite to win this, and he is the most experienced, winning most player left in the tournament. Smith has played well so far and won 15 of his 16 legs won in 15 darts of fewer. If he can keep that kind of standard up, Wright is going to have to work very hard to get a win.

Wright is the two time world champion and a former winner of this event on top of many others. Smith is making only his second major ranked quarter final, and he lost the first 10-16 to Nathan Aspinall at the UK Open in 2019.

Short Straw

Smith drew the short straw here. There are six other quarter finalists he would rather have been facing and Wright is a tough nut to crack. Wright has played in 34 major ranked quarter finals and won 23.

It is hard to oppose Wright based on his success at this level and Smiths lack of experience. However, I suspect Smith will prove hard to beat and this could be a reasonably close match and it may be thick with 180s as they have hit 22 between them so far, Wright at 0.5 per leg, Smith 0.39.

They have met eight times and Wright has won six, including two this year 6-2 and 6-3.

Sunday Afternoon EC Darts tips: 1 point over 11.5 180’s @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes, Betfair

Sunday Afternoon EC Darts tips: 1 point Peter Wright to win -2.5 legs @ 1.83 with Ladbrokes

That is it from me as the Mexican GP will be occupying my time this afternoon.

-JamesPunt