2024 Dutch Darts Championship Saturday Preview

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 preview. The bank of Edhouse kept us ticking over earlier, hopefully we can finish the day strong.

Chris Dobey vs. Moreno Blom

Blom delighted the home fans with a ton average and a 6-3 win over Ryan Joyce. It was a fully deserved win and Joyce actually played well. It was very much an out of the blue performance.

Blom hadn’t hit a ton average in his last 100 matches. His seasonal average is just 77.41, so his win yesterday was his A++++ game. I very much doubt that he will be anywhere near it today.

Dobey has lost five of his last ten matches, and that really hot spell he had a few weeks ago has passed. That said, he is still firing in plenty of big averages and he will be far too good for Blom. Dobey is the 1.22 favourite

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: 1 point Dobey to win -2.5 legs @ 1.67 with Boylesports, Hills, Betvictor

Gerwyn Price vs. Mickey Mansell

The first thing to consider here is the H2H record. Mansell is a slow, deliberate player, and not everyone’s cup of tea. Some players struggle with that kind of player.

Price is 8-3 vs. Mansell. Eight of those matches (all best of eleven legs) required less than 9.5 legs. Price averages about 6 points more than Mansell and he should be able to negotiate this without too much trouble.

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: 1 point Gerwyn Price to win -2.5 legs @ 1.95 with Boylesports

Josh Rock vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode

Dirk ended a seven match losing run with a 6-3 win over Callan Rydz yesterday. He played quite well, averaging 95.48, hit four maximums, but was still a bit iffy on the doubles.

He was interviewed after the match and said that he is still having to do hours of physio every day to manage his shoulder injury. That is leaving little time for practice and work. It is clearly still an ongoing problem, and one swallow a summer does not make.

Josh Rock is not in a great place either. He has lost six of his last ten matches and consistency is not part of his game right now.

Their H2H record offers encouragement to Rock, having won four of their five previous meetings, including two 6-5 wins on the Euro Tour.

Rock is the 1.73 favourite and that may turn out to be a good price, but his own form is too flaky to be getting involved. No bet.

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: No Bet

Michael van Gerwen vs. Kevin Doets

An all Dutch affair and we might find out a bit more about Kevin Doets. Will he be another young Dutch player who gives MVG too much respect? The answer appears to be no. They have played three times and Doets has won twice. MVG’s win was the only one played on stage, which may be significant.

Doets beat Mike de Decker 6-5 yesterday. It wasn’t a high scoring match and he isn’t a high scoring player. Doets has won seven of his last ten matches with nine sub 92.5 averages. That is unlikely to trouble MVG.

Flat MVG?

Van Gerwen is surely going to be a bit flat after his heavy defeat in the Premier League semi-final on Thursday night. His form is not great, losing five of his last ten matches. Four defeats were at the hands of Luke Humphries of course, and that is a tough gig. He now needs to press the reset button and get on with the rest of the season.

I have to give Doets some sort of chance here. He has the knowledge that he can beat MVG, and with Mighty Mike feeling a bit sorry for himself, his mind may not be fully on the job at hand.

MVG is the 1.25 favourite, Doets 4.00.

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: 1 point Kevin Doets to win +2.5 legs @ 1.91 with Boylesports

Martin Schindler vs. Brendan Dolan

This is interesting. With Daryl Gurney losing this afternoon, Dolan has qualified for the World Cup. He is free rolling now, no pressure, and he is playing a player who he has a 6-1 record against.

Dolan has won eight of his last ten matches, he won PC 10 a couple of weeks ago, but since then, he has played four and only averaged over 85 once. Where is his game? Any more of that and Schindler could put him to the sword.

Schindler won ET 3 six weeks ago and since then he has played seven matches and won four. His real power scoring has receded a little but you feel like he could catch fire at any time.

Despite that H2H record, Schindler is the 1.57 favourite, Dolan 2.60. We know that Dolan is the most underrated player in darts, but we also know that he doesn’t do Euro Tour Sundays. He has not made the final day in his last twelve Euro Tour events. No bet.

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: No Bet

Peter Wright vs. Cameron Menzies

Wright’s form is in tatters, has been for ages. He has lost seven of his last ten matches. Menzies on the other hand has won six of his last ten and demolished Raymond van Barneveld 6-1, averaging 103 last night. He is scoring very well, very consistently and unless he turns up pissed on Buckie, he should do to Wright what he did to Barney.

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: 2 points Cameron Menzies -1.5 legs @ 2.20 with Betvictor

Ross Smith vs. Dimitri van den Bergh

Dimitri beat Gabriel Clemens 6-5 in a proper game of darts. Dimitri averaged 102.9, Clemens 100.7. That was a bit of a surprise from two players who have not been in great form.

It was Van den Bergh’s third win from his last ten matches. He now has to try and do what he hasn’t done so far in 2024 and make the finals day’s play.

Ross Smith has lost five of his last ten matches, but he has been scoring well and having good runs in Europe.

Smith is 5-3 against Van den Bergh and he has been the better player for a while. Last night’s performance by Dimitri has put a bit of doubt in my mind and as we are on Smith outright, I will sit this one out.

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: No Bet

Gian van Veen vs. Dom Taylor

Taylor landed our 3 point bet with considerable ease yesterday, beating Jose de Sousa 6-3. It was a good performance by De Sousa, averaging 95.33, but Taylor averaged 102.26 and was always comfortable. Taylor was first match up on Friday, and now last match up on Sunday. A bit strange and a new experience for the tour novice.

Gian van Veen has won seven of his last ten matches but he has lost three of his four second round matches on the Euro Tour this season.

More Experienced

Van Veen is the more experienced player but Taylor is in great form, winning nine of his last ten matches. He does not yet have the same consistency of Van Veen. He lost 2-6 to Ratajski in his only other Euro Tour second round match.

Van Veen is the 1.62 favourite, Taylor 2.37. I suspect the experience of Van Veen will be the difference, especially on home soil and in front of a big crowd. The odds are of no interest, however. No bet.

2024 Dutch Darts Championship R2 Tip: No Bet

That is it for me on the darts this weekend. The Monaco GP takes precedence on Sunday. Hopefully we can get one of our outright selections to the final tomorrow night.

-JamesPunt