2024 UK Open Saturday Evening Preview – JP
2024 UK Open Saturday Evening Tips
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 UK Open Saturday Evening Preview. We landed a nice 2 point winner last night with Smash Lukeman and Brendan Dolan just fell short against Dimitri Van den Bergh. James has just four bets for tonight in Minehead, you can check them out below.
Outlook
We only have two outright runners left going into the last sixteen stage. The bad news? They have been drawn to play each other. The good news? We will have one player into the quarter finals!
Eight matches tonight and I’ll have a quick rush through to see if there is any value out there.
Ricky Evans vs. Luke Woodhouse
Not quite so Rapid Ricky has been playing better since he slowed his game down a little bit. He has won six of his last ten, he is feeling a bit more confident but his finishing is still not great.
Luke Woodhouse is a player who is hard to call. He has beaten Van Barneveld and Michael Smith in the last two rounds, both 10-9, and that may have drained his batteries a bit. He is winning plenty of matches in 2024 and is on a run of eight wins in his last ten.
Their H2H record is 2-2 but they have not met since April 2021.
The bookies can’t split them and neither can I. No bet.
2024 UK Open Saturday Evening Tip: No Bet
Jonny Clayton vs. Dimitri van den Bergh
Two players trying to find their form. The Ferret inflicted more misery on Ross Smith earlier today, beating him 10-8, despite being outscored. It was a 92.9 average for the Welshman go with his 83 in round 4. He has won seven of his last ten matches but his scoring has generally been low.
Van den Bergh had to work hard to beat Dolan last night. It was a 10-8 win in the end and this afternoon he beat Van der Voort 10-6. It was a one sided match, but a decent 96 average for the Belgian. He has lost five of his last ten matches but he is scoring better than Clayton.
Their H2H record is 9-8 in Dimitri’s favour. Clayton has won their last three, but all were before Clayton lost his form in the summer. Time for Dimitri to get another win on the board? I think so.
2024 UK Open Saturday Evening Tip: 1 point Dimitri van den Bergh to win @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes
Martin Lukeman vs. Gary Anderson
Anderson had an easy enough 10-5 win over Chris Dobey earlier. It was a poor match and both players were missing a load of doubles. It certainly wasn’t the Gary Anderson we have seen breaking records in the Players Championship event.
Martin Lukeman came back from being 2-4 and 7-9 down against a high scoring Danny Noppert to clinch the match 10-9. Two thirteen dart legs didn’t hurt and he is playing some very good darts at the moment. It was a 98.8 average today and he has now won seven of his last ten matches, hitting five ton plus averages.
Anderson is the 1.25 favourite, Lukeman 4.60. Their H2H record is scant, 1-0 to Anderson, a 6-5 win on the floor last September.
Lukeman is being underrated here.
2024 UK Open Saturday Evening Tip: 0.5 point Lukeman to win @ 4.60 with Ladbrokes
2024 UK Open Saturday Evening Tip: 1 point Lukeman to win +3.5 legs @ 1.95 with Ladbrokes
Peter Wright vs. Stepehen Bunting
Bunting has had a bit of a drop in form post his Masters win, but he wasn’t well. He is feeling fine now so we should see him in full effect once again. He has averaged around 93 so far, was taken to a deciding leg by Kevin Doets, and he hasn’t found his A-game so far.
Snakebite is on the comeback trail. His form has picked up on the floor and now he is bringing that to the stage. He averaged 101.5 in a 10-1 thrashing of last year’s winner, Andrew Gilding. He will feel good after that. It would be typical Wright if he was to end up winning the tournament, just as he did at the European Championships.
Their H2H record is 16-11 to Wright but Bunting has won their last two, including a 10-2 win at the Masters. However, Wright was throwing like Stevie Wonder in the dark that day, averaging 83. He is much less likely to be so poor again. They played here last year and it was Wright who won 10-9.
