2024 European Darts GP Finals Night Preview – JP
2024 European Darts GP Finals Night Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 European Darts GP Finals Night preview. James fired in another couple of winners earlier and he still has Ross Smith and Josh Rock for outright winner purposes, hopefully one of them gets the job done.
Josh Rock vs. Gary Anderson
Josh Rock very nearly blew a big lead against Michael Smith. He was 4-0 up, went 4-5 down, hit a 170 out shot to level the match, and hit a 12 dart leg to win 6-5. He has now won seven of his last ten matches and is showing something like his best form. Rocky will need a bit more if he is to make the semi-final.
Gary Anderson beat Gerwyn Price 6-4, and he too nearly blew a big lead. Price just couldn’t take his chances (again) and found himself 0-4 down. Price got that back to 3-4 but Anderson was able to wrap it up with a 13 dart leg. It was a 102.52 average for Anderson and he is averaging 106 for the tournament.
Their H2H record is 2-1 to Rock with all three played on the floor last year. The last match was a final, which Anderson won 8-4, the other two were a 6-5 and 6-4 win for Rock.
Anderson is the 1.57 favourite, Rock 2.60. I can’t argue with the odds, but hopefully for our outright bet, Rock can win another match with Anderson. No bet.
2024 European Darts GP Finals Night Tip: No Bet
Rob Cross vs. Luke Humphries
Cross got his second 6-1 win over Danny Noppert in 2024. It was a pretty poor match and Cross won it because he hit his doubles well and Noppert missed his. It is hard to take much from the match.
Cross has won six of his last ten matches and the last time he beat Noppert 6-1 on the Euro Tour, he went on to reach the final. That was in ET1, some six weeks ago, before the Premier League was really taking a toll on the eight players in it.
Humphries got his second 6-5 win of the tournament when beat Stepehen Bunting earlier. It was a very good match with both players averaging over a ton.
Luke Humphries has won six of his last ten matches, which reflects a bit of inconsistency in his game recently. Will these long games be running down his batteries? At least he is facing a fellow Premier League traveller in the shape of Rob Cross.
Their H2H record is 8-8. In 2024 it is 1-1. On the Euro Tour 3-2 to Humphries. Humphries is the 1.40 favourite, Cross 3.40. Their last match on the Euro Tour was the quarter final of ET13 last year and Humphries won that 6-4. Another match like that would be no surprise.
2024 European Darts GP Finals Night Tip: 0.5 point Luke Humphries to win 6-4 @ 6.00 generally available
Ross Smith vs. Damon Heta
Smudger has spent the last few months specialising in playing great and losing. In the last week, he has been the luckiest man in darts. What goes around, comes around. He now needs to make the most of that luck. I lost count of the number of missed match darts in his 6-5 win over Ritchie Edhouse earlier, but it was a lot.
Last weekend Smith played two stinkers and came from behind to beat O’Connor and Menzies. He then played very well against Gerwyn Price, averaged 102, and lost 5-6. Hopefully he can go away, sort himself out, find his game, and win this one.
Damon Heta beat Scott Williams 6-2 making it seven wins from his last ten. He has finally made a quarter final in Europe this season, but he knows the ropes in these tournaments, despite only winning one.
H2H
Their H2H record is interesting. They have played eleven and Smith has won eight, and the last eight in a row. Heta’s last win was back in 2020. Their last seven best of eleven leg matches have ended either 6-5 or 6-3. They have only met once in Europe and Smith won that 6-3, back in 2022.
Heta is the 1.67 favourite, Smith 2.25. The odds look about right and this is all about whether Smith can find his A game. Hopefully he can. No bet.
2024 European Darts GP Finals Night Tip: No Bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Gabriel Clemens
MVG was far from his best in his 6-4 win over Clyton. It was a poor match and Clayton didn’t really turn up, averaging just 87 thanks to a check out rate of just 18%. All the more annoying that he beat Dobey 6-5 yesterday. I would have fancied Dobey to beat MVG today.
Gabriel Clemens came into this tournament with a seasonal win rate of 39% and a seasonal average of around 92. He has now won three matches, the first two were unimpressive, but he turned the wick up against Chisnall, averaged 101.43 and won 6-3. It could have been 6-0.
Has he been inspired by Martin Schindler’s win last weekend. Very probably. Will that be enough for him to beat MVG? Probably not.
MVG Factor
The last time Clemens won three legs in a row was last November, in the Players Championship Finals, he played MVG in the semi-final, and lost 6-11. He doesn’t like playing MVG. He has played him six times and lost all six.
They have met in one Euro Tour quarter final and MVG won that 6-5 last year. MVG only averaged 94 that day, and still edged it. That was an event played in Germany, and one of three Euro Tour quarter finals he has played in and lost. He lost two in deciding legs and the other 4-6.
Clemens is not without a chance. MVG is not at his best, but does Clemens believe that he can beat MVG? The crowd will be an advantage, but if MVG can make a strong start then I suspect the crowd will be subdued and he can get win number seven.
Van Gerwen is the 1.40 favourite, Clemens 3.00. I will go for another close but no cigar for Clemens.
