2024 European Championship Sunday Preview

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2024 European Championship Sunday betting preview.

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Luke Woodhouse

These two have pretty much mirrored each other performance wise so far, averaging in the mid 90s. Dirk is the more experienced player when it comes to big TV matches. He has already played in two European Championship semi-finals, losing 4-10 to Clayton in 2020 and beating Danny Noppert 10-3 in 2022. His recent form is good, winning seven of his last ten matches and he is playing consistently well, with all ten matches seeing 95+ averages.

Woodhouse is a better player in 2024 and he is on the cusp of the top 32, but the problem is that Pietreczko is one place in front of him, and still in the tournament. Still 33rd is good and he has two more Majors to come before the end of the season.

His recent form is good, winning six of his last ten matches, but he lacks the kind of consistency that Van Duijvenbode has been showing, or indeed the firepower. Wood house has only reached one ranking Major quarter final, in last year’s Players Championship finals, which he lost 7-10 to Gabriel Clemens.

Dirk Leads H2H

Their H2H record is 6-2 to Dirk, and he has won the last six in a row. They have met on TV once before, and Dirk won that 10-1.

Van Duijvenbode is the 1.57 favourite, with Woodhouse 2.50. It does look good for Dirk, but Woodhouse is an improved player since they last met in 2022, and Dirk has been on the sidelines for a while and will be desperate to extend this run and maybe make the final. He is a bit flaky in big matches and he can down tools mentally if it starts to go wrong.

Woodhouse is harder to gauge given that he has only played in one previous quarter final on TV. Dirk has played seven ranking Major quarter finals and won just two, so most of his experience at this level is of losing.

So long as Dirk can hold his good from, he should win, but he is not banker material. That big 10-1 win on TV against Woodhouse may have been a few years ago, but they will both remember it and six wins on the bounce for Van Duijvenbode vs. Woodhouse should give him the edge confidence wise.

Of the last 32 quarter finals, only two went to a deciding leg, so if Dirk is to get a win, he should cover a 1.5 handicap.

2024 European Championship Sunday Tip: 1 point Dirk Van Duijvenbode to win -1.5 legs @ 2.00 with Betfair

Ritchie Edhouse vs. Gary Anderson

The Bank of Edhouse paid out yesterday with his fantastic 10-9 win over Michael Smith. He looked dead and buried early on, ending the first session 1-4, but he got his head down and kept it tight before closing the deal with two 13 dart legs to win it. Quality stuff.

Edhouse has lost five of his last ten matches and consistency is not a big part of his game. In his last twelve matches he has hit a 120 average, a 88.06 and everything in between.

Anderson stuffed a very poor MVG 10-4. It was an easy job for Anderson who hardly had to get out of second gear to win. Anderson has won seven of his last ten matches and his seasonal win rate is a whopping 77%.

Anderson is the more consistent heavy scorer, the more experienced player and in better form. The longer format removes the punchers chance and it looks all set up for an Anderson win. However, Edhouse just beat Michal Smith, and he averaged 109 in the first round, so he is not without a chance.

Even Steven

Their H2H record is 2-2. All of those were on the floor and best of eleven legs.  Edhouse has never played a quarter final in a ranking Major before. He played in two Euro Tour quarter finals earlier in the year, but lost both. Is this the end of his road? Probably, but if he has one of his A games, than we could get a surprise.

Anderson is the 1.33 favourite, Edhouse 3.80. The odds are stacked against him, but Edhouse owes me nothing and I will have a minimum stake punt on him and hope that he can end Anderson’s, a Euro Tour interloper, run.

2024 European Championship Sunday Tip: 0.5 point Ritchie Edhouse to win @ 3.80 with SpreadEx

Luke Humphries vs. Jermaine Wattimena

Seven ton plus averages in a row for Humphries. He saw off Jonny Clayton 10-3 yesterday and averaged 103. It was basically a training match for him. He has won eight of his last ten and looks fresh so far.

Wattimena showed some real bottle to beat James Wade 10-9 yesterday. It was a 12 dart leg and a 124 checkout to seal the deal and he was rightly very pleased. Especially as he was 1-5 down at one point. 

He has won seven of his last ten matches but he tends to alternate between good performances and pretty ordinary ones. His record in the ranked Majors sees just one losing quarter final, but he is playing as well as he ever has in 2024. However, he is up against the best player in the world, and the best player in the world who is in top form. Anything but a win for Humphries would be a huge shock.

Their H2H record is 6-3 to Humphries, 2-0 in 2024 and 2-0 on TV. Humphries has won their last five matches in a row.

Humphries is the 1.18 favourite and as we are on him to win the tournament, I am not too bothered about having a bet on this match. No bet.

2024 European Championship Sunday Tip: No Bet

Ricardo Pietreczko vs. Danny Noppert

Pietreczko continues to ignore the fact that he is having a very poor season, and he finds himself in a Major quarter final, and into the top 32 in the world rankings. It baffles me.

He only averaged 90 when beating Andrew Gilding 10-3 yesterday, but he didn’t have to do much as Gilding just didn’t show up, averaging just 83. He has won a Euro Tour event in 2023, but his Major experience is limited and not very impressive.

Pikachu will have the crowd on his side and they are noisy and prepared to whistle when his opponent is throwing and so on. A bit like a Premier League crowd. Pietreczko has won five of his last ten matches, but he has started to show some decent form in recent games. Perhaps his greatest strength is checking out. He is deadly on double 16, so if he gets a chance, he can take it.

Noppert beat Mike de Decker 10-6 yesterday and he averaged 100. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing well, if a bit inconsistently. Noppert’s big problem is losing quarter finals. 

He has lost twelve in the last twelve months. He has won five, so it is not all gloom and doom, but his semi-final record is also poor. I can’t back Noppert in the latter stages of tournaments, but I can’t oppose him with Pietreczko. No bet.

2024 European Championship Sunday Tip: No Bet

Formula 1 duties take over for the rest of the day, so this is the last update for this weekend.

-JamesPunt