2024 German Darts Saturday Preview & Tips – JP
2024 German Darts Saturday Tips
James Punt has already posted his outright preview for the German Darts Grand Prix. Read that here. You can get his 2024 German Darts Saturday Tips for selected matches below.
Brendan Dolan vs. Alan Soutar
Northern Ireland crushed Scotland on the football pitch a few days ago, and Brendan Dolan can make it a double here.
The History Maker may have only won five of his last ten matches, but he has hit four ton plus averages, including a 108 in defeat to Ritchie Edhouse in PC6. He is not a great traveller but he has plenty of Euro Tour experience and picks up enough first round matches to give us hope he can win this one.
Soutar has drifted down the rankings since having a good 2021 season. His win rate fell below 46% last year, but he has upped his game so far in 2024, with a win rate of 57%. He reached the semi-final of PC1 to start the season, but most recently he has lost six of his last ten matches.
One of those defeats was to Brendan Dolan, a 4-6 loss in PC4. Soutar had four first round exits from his six ET starts last season, he is two from four in 2022.
Their H2H record is 3-0 to Dolan and he is 1.65 favourite to make it 4-0.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: 1 point Brendan Dolan to win @ 1.65 with Ladbrokes
Franz Roetzch vs. Jermaine Wattimena
I was going to break the habit of a lifetime here, and back Jermaine Wattimena. He is in decent form, winning six of his last ten and reaching the quarter finals of ET1, beating Gurney, Cullen and Ross Smith. He isn’t rock solid but he has hit some big numbers, is feeling more confident and he is a class or two above Challenge Tour player Roetzch.
Sadly, his opening odds of 1.70 with a -1.5 leg handicap have been slashed to 1.53. That sucked the value out of things. No bet.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: No Bet
Cameron Menzies vs. Mike de Decker
Menzies is a bit of a figure of fun, but he is playing some good stuff and at a good level. He has won seven of his last ten matches and his seasonal average is 95.5.
Mike de Decker is also playing well in 2024. His seasonal average is 96.65 and he has won six of his last ten matches, but he lost both of his first round matches in the recent Players Championships. They have met twice before and Menzies won both, the most recent being a 6-3 win last September.
The bookies can’t split them and it really could go either way. However, backing overs on the legs makes enough appeal.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: 1 point over 8.5 legs @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes, Boylesports
Evening Session
Lukas Wenig vs. Steve Lennon
Lennon got his tour card back at Q school and started the season showing some good form, but that has dropped off somewhat and he has lost six of his last ten matches. He reached a Euro Tour final in 2018, but in the last two years he has played in six events and lost his first round match four times.
Wenig has also lost six of his last ten matches and he isn’t as good a player as Lennon, but he isn’t miles off. Wenig reached the second round in Belgium, as he did in his only Euro Tour event in 2023. Wenig did play here in 2022 but lost his first round match. He also won a tour card at Q school and he is getting more experience of playing at a higher level.
Lennon is the 1.61 favourite, but I will have a speculative bet on Wenig. His odds look a little too big and hopefully the home crowd will lift him and not put him under pressure.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: 1 point Lukas Wenig to win @ 2.45 with Ladbrokes
James Wade vs. Daryl Gurney
This is the kind of match up that the new qualifying criteria is supposed to serve up. Two major winners playing a first round match. Both these players reached the semi-final here in 2018.
Daryl Gurney is in good form, winning eight of his last ten matches. He reached the semi-final of PC6 last time out which will do his confidence a power of good. He is not yet consistent enough to be backing him to win things, three of his last ten saw sub 90 averages, but his doubling is excellent (ranked 2nd) and when he scores well, he is hard to beat.
James Wade has dropped out of the world top 16 for the first time since 2005 and he continues to struggle. He has lost five of his last ten matches but he plays with a good degree of consistency. He is a slightly weaker scorer than Gurney and based on Gurney’s ever improving doubling, he may not be the best finisher here either.
Their H2H record is 7-5 to Wade but they have only played three times in the last five years.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: 1 point Daryl Gurney to win @ 1.75 with Ladbrokes
Andrew Gilding vs. Joe Cullen
Gilding is bang out of form, losing seven of his last ten matches. He is not the same player he was when he won the UK Open in 2022.
Joe Cullen is hardly in good form either, winning five of his last ten. He is increasingly hard to call. His last four matches saw sub 91 averages but last time out in Europe, he hit averages of 103 and 104 before hitting an 82.6 when going down 2-6 to Wattimena. His game is very fragile.
Their H2H record is 6-5 to Gilding and H2Hs are always important when Gilding is involved. He is slow and strange and a lot of players struggle to play their best against him. Cullen has won their last two matches, both last year, and Gilding was playing better than he is now.
Cullen won’t enjoy the pace of play, but his B game should be enough against a struggling Gilding. I will resist boosting the odds with a handicap bet as it could be an ugly grind.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: 1 point Joe Cullen to win @ 1.60 with Fitzdares
Raymond van Barneveld vs. Gian van Veen
Barney was the unlikely winner of PC6 a few weeks ago. He still knows how to get the job done and while isn’t a top player anymore, he plays at a decent level. He has won nine of his last ten matches and you can’t knock his form.
Van Veen is still looking for a breakthrough win at senior level. He won another Development title in February, reached the semi-final of PC1 earlier that month and reached the last sixteen at the UK Open. He isn’t at the top of his game, but he has won seven of his last ten matches. Van Veen averaged 100 in round 1 in Belgium and lost 1-6 to an on fire Andreas Harrysson.
Van Veen has the firepower to blow Barney away, but if he isn’t firing, Barney will very likely beat the young Dutchman. Van Veen is the 1.80 favourite, Barney 2.00. The odds look about right. These two have met once, back in February and that was a 6-4 win for Van Barneveld. It does look to be a bit of a coin toss and I will sit this one out. No bet.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: No Bet
Jose de Sousa vs. Peter Wright
Two former major winners but both struggling for form these days. We get to see Wright every week in the Premier League, but not so much De Sousa. The Special One is now just an ordinary one, averaging 92.48 in 2024 and with a win rate of 53%. He has lost six of his last seven matches and his doubling has been a big problem.
Wright got his second PL win on Thursday but he isn’t in good form. His seasonal average is right here with De Soua at 92.42 and he has won five of his last ten. He is playing better players than De Sousa in the PL and he is playing better on the floor than De Sousa.
Snakebite reached the third round in Belgium and I would say that he has more faith in his game than De Sousa right now. They haven’t met since 2022 and both were better players then.
2024 German Darts Saturday Tip: 1 point Peter Wright to win @ 1.73 with Ladbrokes
Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Gabriel Clemens
Since Van den Bergh won the UK Open a month ago, he has played just four matches and lost three.
Gabriel Clemens has started 2024 in poor form. His win rate is an alarming 31%. He was only won three of his last seven and those were against weak opposition.
These two have played five times with Dimitri winning four. Clemens is not great on the Euro Tour, losing 10 of his last 24 first round matches. Van den Bergh reached two finals in 2022 but like Clemens, his Euro Tour record is poor. Of his last 21 opening matches, Van den Bergh has lost 10. The Belgian has won 6 of his last 10 openers, so he is getting a little better.
Van den Bergh will be feeling the more confident player thanks to winning his second major, while Clemens has home advantage, not that that has done him much good in the past.
