2024 WC Darts Saturday Evening Tips – JP
2024 WC Darts Saturday Evening Preview & Tips
Dave Chisnall wasn’t at his best but he managed to at least cover the 1.5 set spread for us. Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 WC Darts Saturday Evening preview, let’s hope for a change in luck.
Jamie Hughes vs. David Cameron
No, not the unelected Foreign Secretary, but the Canadian darts player and 2022 World Seniors Masters Champion.
Cameron made his Ally Pally debut last year, beating Ritchie Edhouse in the first round before losing 1-3 to Danny Noppert in the second. He played some Modus Super Series events in the Summer, beating Luke Littler in one match, and he has won one CDC pro tour event in 2023.
His seasonal average is 87.8 and he has won eight of his last ten matches, but hit only three 90+ averages.
Poor Season
Jamie Hughes has had a poor season. His win rate is just 43% and his seasonal average down to 91.03. He has won six of his last ten matches, but it is fair to say that his form has been all over the place.
In those last ten matches he has beaten Peter Wright and James Wade and hit a 105.95 average when beating Alan Soutar. He reached the last sixteen of the final Players Championship event of the year but followed that up with two defeats, both with sub 80 averages. He has played four matches at Ally Pally and lost the lot.
First Round Exit
This time last year Yozzer lost 1-3 to Jimmy Hendriks in the first round. He averaged 79 in that match. He decided to have a reset, split with his manager and then reached the final of PC1 at the start of the 2023 season. It was pretty much all downhill from there.
There are occasional flashes of his A-game and the odd good run on the floor, but it is a long way from the days when he was the BDO number 2 for three years on the spin.
Jamie Hughes was the 1.62 favourite but drifted out to 1.73 this morning. Cameron is into 2.20 from 2.38. It is a no bet for me.
2024 WC Darts Saturday Evening Tip: No Bet
Keane Barry vs. Reynaldo Rivera
Keane Barry is the 1.25 favourite despite losing his last seven matches. It has been a season of stagnation for Barry. This will be his fifth PDC World Championship, despite only being 21 years old. He has only ever won one match at Ally Pally and despite his poor form, he should be able to improve on that.
Reynaldo Rivera is yet another Filipino to make the World Championship. He is ranked fourth on the PDC Asian Tour where he has won a couple of titles.
Barry The Better Player
Clearly, it is hard to back a player who comes here on the back of seven straight defeats, but Barry is the better player and he should justify favouritism. However, this time last year, he lost 1-3 to Grant Sampson of South Africa.
If the other Filipino players have played well in the earlier matches, Rivero might be inspired, while Barry will be haunted by that flop here last year.
Nebrida took Whitlock to a deciding set, can Rivera get something from this match? It all depends on Barry. His B-game is vulnerable, his A-game would be far too good. This doesn’t strike me as a good betting opportunity. No bet.
2024 WC Darts Saturday Evening Tip: No Bet
Scott Williams vs. Haruki Muramatsu
Williams is the 1.36 favourite but he hasn’t had a great year, losing 53% of his matches. His best result was to reach a Euro Tour semi-final in September, but most recently he has lost five of his last ten matches. There were five sub 90 averages in those ten but also a 106 average thrown in.
Muramatsu played in three World Championships between 2010 and 2013 and failed to win a set. He won a tour card in 2016, played nine matches and lost the lot.
Asian Champion
He won the Asian Championship to qualify for this and the Grand Slam. Muramatsu came to the UK to play in the Modus Super Series to prepare for the Grand Slam but it didn’t work out as he lost all three group matches. He does have a ton plus A-game, but he usually plays around his seasonal average of 87.8.
Williams may dazzle the Japanese player with his trademark pants, but odds of 1.36 make no appeal. His best game would be too good for Muramatsu but there is enough poor stuff in his game to give the Japanese player a chance to get something out of this. However, he is just 2.00 getting a +1.5 set handicap and there is no value there. No bet.
2024 WC Darts Saturday Evening Tip: No Bet
Gary Anderson vs. Simon Whitlock
The Wizard was far from being magic in his 3-2 win over Palao Nebrida last night. It was all a bit of a struggle against an opponent who was efficient but far from good. Both players averaged 90 and eventually the Aussie’s experience made the difference in the deciding set.
Whitlock has won five of his last ten matches but hit seven sub 91 averages. He will need to really up his game if he is to live with the highest averaging player of the last twelve months.
Anderson has never lost any of his opening matches at Ally Pally (14-0). His most recent form is a bit of a worry, losing six of his last ten matches. That is poor, even if two were to Luke Humphries.
Anderson will have had some time off, probably went fishing before a few chucks with Ryaan Searle. That should be enough to get a win in this match.
Their H2H record is 26-17 to Anderson but they haven’t played on TV for over three years. Anderson has retained his abilities, Whitlock is not the player he was even two or three years ago.
Flying Scotsman Fav
Anderson is the 1.17 favourite to win, Whitlock 5.50. I expect we will see a better performance from Whitlock here. He has had a match to settle him into the event and in reality, his job was to reach the second round and pick up £15k in prizemoney. He is free rolling now and it is Anderson who is the hot favourite and expected to brush the Aussie aside.
Anderson has won twelve of his fourteen first round matches either 3-0 or 3-1 (six each) and something similar looks likely. He has dropped a set in four of the last five years and with Whitlock likely to be a bit more relaxed, he is good enough to take advantage if Anderson gets sloppy at any stage.
2024 WC Darts Saturday Evening Tip: 0.5 point Gary Anderson to win 3-1 @ 3.50 with Fitzdares
Anderson is ranked 6th for 180s per leg and Whitlock 16th. Their combined rate is 0.64 per leg and if we do get a four setter, there should be enough legs to see a decent amount of maximums.
