2024 Grand Slam Darts Evening Session Preview

It was a decent afternoon for James Punt with three winners from four bets and best of all, our 175/1 selection Martin Smash Lukeman is through to the next round barring a total disaster tomorrow. Check out his 2024 Grand Slam Darts evening session match previews and tips are below.

Keane Barry vs. Lourence Ilagan

Ilagan was dreadful when going down 1-5 to Van den Bergh. One double hit from thirteen is pub darts. Keane Barry did not even get a chance to throw at a double, going down 0-5 to a rampant Luke Littler.

Barry still has to fancy his chances of getting through, but he must win this match. He has won six of his last ten and while he isn’t on fire, he should be better than Ilagan. How much better is anyone’s guess. He is the 1.54 favourite but offers no value. No bet.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: No Bet

Ryan Joyce vs. Noa-Lynn van Leuven

Joyce was not at the races in his 1-5 loss to Gary Anderson. It was a case of just watching Anderson destroy him. His chances of qualifying are very slim, but if he wins this, he can finish third and pick up an extra £3000.

Van Leuven lost 0-5 to MVG, much as expected. She averaged 86.48, very much her expected average. She can do better and has won at Challenge tour level, beating the likes of Connor Scutt, so this is not a case of turning up and winning the match for Joyce.

Joyce is the 1.22 favourite, Van Leuven 4.75. There is a bit of value in Van Leuven’s odds, but there will be better opportunities. No bet.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: No Bet

Mickey Mansell vs. Rowby-John Rodriguez

Did anyone have the Mansell – Rodriguez double last night? Thought not. The two giant killers now go H2H for what is likely to be a place in the knockout stage, and nobody expected that.

Mansell beat Wade 5-3 and with an average of 100, he won it on merit. Wade was averaging 103, so it was a proper game of darts. Mansell has that in his game, but it just doesn’t come out that often. He did average 110 in one of his qualifying matches last week, so his game is in good shape, if a little inconsistent. He has won seven of his last ten matches and hit three ton plus averages in his last five.

Huge Shock

Rowby-John pulled off an even bigger shock when he beat tournament favourite, Luke Humphries, 5-3. Humphries was just guilty of being slow out of the blocks and letting Rodriguez get an early lead, which is risky in a first to five leg match. Rowby-John averaged just 93, so it wasn’t a great performance, just taking advantage of Humphries being a bit dozy.

Mansell is the better player and more experienced. Rowby-John has a puncher’s chance, but can he get lucky twice in a row?

Interesting H2H

Their H2H record is interesting, 5-0 to Rowby-John. It is pretty old form, with their last match being back in 2021 and their first in 2014. All were best of eleven leg matches and four went over 9.5 legs.

Back in 2021, Rodriguez was winning 65% of his matches, compared to just 37% in 2024, so it is fair to say that his game has regressed. His seasonal average has dropped 2.5 points since then, down to 87.6. Mansell has improved his average by 2 points since 2021, and his win rate from 41% to 53%.

Mansell looks to have a good chance to finally get one over on Rowby-John. He is the 1.62 favourite to do so, but I will take a chance that they have a close, and probably nervy, match.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: 1 point over 7.5 legs @ 1.83 with Betfair

Mike de Decker vs. Mensur Suljovic

De Decker averaged 99 in his 2-5 defeat by Jermaine Wattimena. He was just beaten by the better player. De Decker has won six of his last ten matches and is playing well.

Suljovic also lost 2-5, in his case to Michael Smith. It was a good game with both players averaging just under the ton. It was nip and tuck at 2-2, but Smith checked out 96 to break Suljovic’s throw and held his throw to win. In these short matches, it can turn on one throw.

Two defeated players, but both played well. De Decker is playing to a high level on a regular basis, Suljovic played way above his current norm last night.

Their H2H record, always important when Suljovic is involved, is 6-2 to Suljovic. Most of their form is old and they have only played once in 2024 and De Decker won that 6-5 in August.

De Decker is the 1.44 favourite, and he should win, but there is no value in his odds. Will Suljovic’s slow pace make it difficult? Probably. Over 7.5 legs is 1.91. The question is, can Suljovic play as well as he did last night? I have my doubts. No bet.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: No Bet

Luke Humphries vs. James Wade

The two strong favourites to go through are now under pressure. One of them has to lose and will be going home early.

Their H2H record is 12-5 to Humphries, 2-0 in 2024, 4-2 on TV and he has won their nine of their last ten. They played a semi-final here last year and Humphries won 16-10.

Both players are playing well, and scoring well, and we should get a good game. Humphries is the 1.40 favourite, Wade 3.10. I can’t see either player rolling over and Humphries should come through a close one.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: 1 point over 7.5 legs @ 2.00 with Betfair

Michael Smith vs. Jermaine Wattimena

Jermaine Wattimena is arguably the most improved player of 2024. Just by slowing down a little, he is now scoring much better and winning more matches. His win rate is 62% and rising, his best since 2019. His seasonal average is up by three points to 95.2. He still hasn’t cracked the consistency bit, but his confidence level is noticeably better. He is at the top of his game.

Smith was a little flattered by his 5-2 win against Suljovic. He won the bull up, and broke Suljovic once. That was it. Smith has won seven of his last ten matches, but he has not been showing the kind of consistency he needs to be winning titles.

Their H2H record is 11-7 to Smith. No surprise there, or maybe Wattimena is a bit closer than expected? Wattimena won their only match in 2024, a 6-4 win back in July.

Smith is the 1.80 favourite, Wattimena 2.20. I like a player who is feeling very confident, and Wattimena is one of them.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: 1 point Jermaine Wattimena to win @ 2.20 with Boylesports

Michael van Gerwen vs. Gary Anderson

The match of the day.

Anderson was magnificent when beating Ryan Joyce 5-1. He averaged 113 and Joyce was merely a spectator. Anderson has won six of his last ten matches, but he has successfully brought his floor game to the stage and if he keeps that up, he wins this.

MVG beat Noa-Lynn van Leuven 5-0. It was just a nice practice match for him. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing well. He has put in a couple of poor performances, one against Micky Mansell, and the other a 4-10 loss to Gary Anderson in the European Championship.

Their H2H record is 49-20 to MVG, but they have only played twice in the last two years. They have met three times in this tournament before and MVG won two.

This is Anderson’s favourite major, and one that he would really like to win. He said after his win last night that he is too old to be winning majors, but he does talk a load of cobblers at times.

Anderson is the 1.95 favourite, MVG 2.00. With Anderson having handed out an absolute drubbing to MVG so recently, I will side with the Scotsman to follow that up with another.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: 1 point Gary Anderson to win @ 1.95 with SpreadEx

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Luke Littler

Pray for Dimitri. The Belgian beat Ilagan 5-1 last night but it was a poor match. The averages were skewed by a 24 dart leg, but Dimitri did have three 15 darters and a 17, so he was OK outside of the pub leg.

Littler averaged 112 in his 5-0 thrashing of Keane Barry. He is back on the TV and keen to put three first round defeats in majors behind him. That will have settled him into the tournament. Littler is in fine form, better than winning six of his last ten matches suggests. His last six averages have been 110, 116, 111, 107, 95 and 112. Not too shabby.

2-0 Littler

Their H2H record is 2-0 to Littler, both in World Series events. Both saw both players average over 100 and both were close. The problem for Van den Bergh now is that he is in poor form. He is very likely to need a ton plus average just to be in the match, and he hasn’t hit one since he lost 6-7 to Littler back in August, 29 matches ago. Yes, he is a much better player on TV, but…..

Littler is the 1.29 favourite, Van den Bergh 4.00. Dimitri will employ his full array of tactics, and slow things down to a crawl and hope to put Littler out of his rhythm, but at the end of the day, he will have to play a lot better than he has done for months.

2024 Grand Slam Darts evening Tip: 1 point Luke Littler to win -2.5 legs @ 2.00 with Betfair, Ladbrokes

-JamesPunt