2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Preview

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon preview. He fired in seven winners from nine bets last night and all of our o/r selections qualified apart from Gerwyn Price. A good night at the office.

Friday Night Recap

It was a better session last night with seven winners from nine selections. Our outright tips did as well as they could with Soutar, Wattimena, Scutt and Cross all making the last thirty two. Scutt had to play our other outright selection, Gerwyn Price, and he defied the odds to beat the Welshman. Hopefully our boys can continue to defy the odds as none of them got a good draw.

We are down to two boards, and thirty two players for this afternoon’s fifth round. All matches remain best of 19 legs.

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Chris Dobey

Van den Bergh got his defence of his title off to a satisfactory start, beating Van Barneveld 6-3 last night. I didn’t see that match, but with both players averaging in the mid-80s. I wasn’t missing much.

Van den Bergh has won six of his last ten matches. Half of those saw sub 90 averages, but he has shown some signs that his form is coming back. He reached the semi-final of the World Masters, beating Anderson, MVG and Aspinall before losing to Jonny Clayton. He hit two big ton plus averages and a 97 in that event and it was a reminder that he remains a big stage player.

Chris Dobey beat an increasingly out of form Stephen Bunting 10-6 last night. It was a decent performance with a mid-90s average, but his checkout rate was just 30% which is a worry. Dobey has won seven of his last ten matches and last night’s win ended a run of three straight defeats.

Their H2H record is 8-7 to Dobey and he has won their last four matches.

Dobey is a best priced 1.67, Van den Bergh 2.38. Understandable odds but neither player fills me with any great confidence and there has to be better opportunities elsewhere. No bet.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No bet

Josh Rock vs. Ross Smith

I missed both these players’ matches last night as I had run out of available eyes. Rock, who I was close to opposing, beat Justin Hood 10-5, averaging 96.13. It was no more than he should have done, but his results have not been going to plan lately.

Rock has won six of his last ten, but he has lost to Darryl Pilgrim, Beau Greaves, Maximillian Czerwinski and Stefan Bellmont, all players he should be beating. Rock is playing some great stuff, but lacking consistency.

Ross Smith made hard work of beating Jose de Sousa in a 10-7 win. It was another sub 90s average for De Sousa and just 90.60 for Smith. Smudger’s form is OK, winning seven of his last ten, but to me, he hasn’t impressed for a while now. He did reach the semi-final of the Players Championships finals, but even he didn’t quite know how.

H2H Even

Their H2H record is an unsurprising 2-2. They have played one best of 19 leg match, which Smith won 10-4 in last year’s Matchplay. They are similar kind of players, very good on their day, but a bit too inconsistent. Two of their four matches went to a deciding leg and another close match would be no surprise.

Rock is the 1.83 favourite, Smith 2.10. There is a tiny bit of value in Smith’s odds. But not a lot. Over 16.5 legs is 1.80, and again, there is no great value there. Both are good 180 hitters and if we do get a close match, we could get a good amount. Across their four matches they have hit 38 in 43 legs.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: 1 point over 11.5 180s @ evens with BET365, Spreadex, Betfair

Dave Chisnall vs. Krzysztof Ratajski

Dave Chisnall squeaked past Ricky Evans last night in a 10-9 win. It could have gone either way in an entertaining match, but quality it was not. Chizzy averaged 85.36 and he will have to do better than that.

Ratajski beat Joe Cullen 10-4, which must make him world number 1 in Cullen’s deluded mind. The Polish Eagle averaged 95.50 and that was his eighth win from his last ten matches. He is playing quite well, scoring consistently around his seasonal average of 96.13.

Their H2H record is 8-4 to Ratajski who has won their last five in a row, and the last four have been routs. The Pole is the 1.73 favourite. He should be shorter. Chisnall has been hitting some decent form, but he is still putting in a lot of poor performances as he comes back from injury.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Krzysztof Ratajski to win @ 1.73 with Betfair, Betfred, Skybet, BET365

Martin Schindler vs. Dylan Slevin

Schindler is the 1.50 favourite and he should be too good for Slevin. The Irishman is averaging a respectable 92.63 in 2025, but he does tend to struggle against the top players, and while Schindler is not in top form, he is the better player. No bet.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No bet

Luke Littler vs. Jermaine Wattimena

We didn’t get a good draw here. In fact we couldn’t have got a worse one. Littler was taken to a deciding leg by Peter Wright last night. He only averaged 108.69, his eighth ton plus average in his last ten matches. Littler is 3-0 against Wattimena and all three were absolute thumpings; 16-2, 6-1 and 6-2.

Plymouth Argyle beat Liverpool in the actual FA Cup, and some golfer had two holes in one in the South African Open yesterday, so strange things can happen. Pray for Jermaine.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No bet

Alan Soutar vs. Jonny Clayton

Soutar has lived up to my hype so far, but we could have got a better draw here as well. He won his two matches yesterday, beating Callan Rydz 6-0 and Matt Campbell 10-7. He averaged 97.1 across the two matches and he is in top form.

Jonny Clayton was a good price to beat Gary Anderson last night and he did so 10-3, averaging 97.86. The Ferret has won six of his last ten matches, averaging over 91 in them all, six over 95.

Their H2H record is 3-1 to Clayton, but in their only TV match, Soutar won 10-8 in the Grand Slam in 2022. Something similar would be nice.

Clayton is 1.50 favourite, with Soutar at 2.75. The money is going down on Soots, and I am not surprised. If he was 3.00 or bigger I would go in for more, but I will stick and hope for the best for our 251.00 shot for the title.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No bet

William O’Connor vs. Mensur Suljovic

O’Connor played well in his two matches yesterday, averaging 97.52 across the two. Suljovic averaged 93.63 in his two wins, beating an out of sorts Luke Woodhouse last night, and a poor Nathan Rafferty in the afternoon.

The Austrian has won half of his 18 matches in 2025 and he has shown some good form, but absolutely no consistency. O’Connor does my head in. He is very talented, has a great throw but gives up far too easily. He is playing well, winning eight of his last ten matches, but he is not banker material.

These two have met twelve times before, with Suljovic winning eight, including a 6-0 here last year. On TV, Suljovic is 2-0.

O’Connor is the 1.73 favourite, Suljovic 2.20. I don’t trust O’Connor, but Suljovic make zero appeal at 2.20. No bet.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No Bet

Ryan Searle vs. Luke Humphries

Another tough draw for Humphries, who was given a close match by Beau Greaves last night. He ended up the 10-7 winner, averaging 102.5, and he is in great form, winning 82% of his matches in 2025. He has lost three of his last ten matches, two in deciding legs, but he has hit seven ton plus averages and doesn’t have many off days.

Local boy, Ryan Searle, beat Adam Hunt 10-7 in a fairly ordinary match with both averaging a touch over 92. Searle has won 80% of his matches in 2025, but all but two were on the floor and that is where Searle does his best work. He has the game to beat anyone, but on stage he is not quite the same player.

Their H2H record is 11-6 to Humphries. He has won five of their last six and on TV it is 5-1 to Humphries. They met in this tournament in 2021, when it was played behind closed doors, and Humphries won 10-7.

Humphries is the 1.40 favourite but Searle is attracting the money and is now into as low as 3.10, but BET365 go 3.50. It is a no bet for me.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No Bet

Cameron Menzies vs. James Wade

Menzies had no trouble beating Mike de Decker 10-4 last night and he has won 80% of his matches in 2025. Menzies was runner up in PC4 last week, but his consistency is not great, despite the fancy win rate.

Wade had an equally easy job, beating Willie Borland 10-3. Wade has won eight of his last ten matches and his most recent defeat was to Menzies in the quarter final of PC4 last week.

Their H2H record is 5-5, with Menzies winning their last three in a row. They have only met on TV once, in last year’s Grand Slam, and Menzies won that 10-9.

Menzies is the 1.91 marginal favourite, with Wade 2.00. I can’t argue with those odds. No bet.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No bet

Madars Razma vs. Michael Smith

I really though Smith was going to lose his match against Kevin Doets last night, but he played well enough to win it 10-6. Doets wasn’t great but Smith averaged 95 and was clearly delighted to get a win after a horrible run of form. He is suffering with arthritis in his wrist but it held up fine last night, so maybe he is on the Naproxen.

Razma beat Pietreczko 10-9 last night, despite averaging ten points more than the German. He had beaten Ryan Meikle 6-1 in the afternoon and he is playing OK. Razma has won six of his last ten matches, but it is not form that Smith should fear. What Smith should fear is the pace of play.

Smith is a fast player and he doesn’t cope well with slow play. However, he is 3-0 against Razma and they were all easy wins.

I had considered Razma as the 2.70 outsider, and the money is going down on the Latvian, but if Smith is fit, he wins. No bet.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No Bet

Conor Scutt vs. Damon Heta

We had two outright selections draw together in the fourth round, and it was Scutt who beat the in-form Gerwyn Price. That should be a warning for Heta, as Scutt is seen as one of the coming players. There is no doubting his talent, but he lacks consistency.

I picked him for his talent and hoped that he would get a good draw. Well that hasn’t gone to plan. He got the world number nine last night and gets the world number eight today. Harsh.

Heta may be the world number eight, but the world rankings are a bit strange right now. Outside of the top four, they just don’t strike me as top 10 material. Heta is yet to win a TV title and surely a world number eight should have bagged one of those? The Aussie has good runs and banks big cheques, but he is not a serial title winner.

Tougher Task

Heta has won seven of his last ten matches and he didn’t have to get out of first gear to beat a very poor Kim Huybrechts 10-2 last night. This should be harder.

Both players are very talented and can hit big averages, but neither are playing with any great consistency. They have met three times before, with Heta winning two, including a three sets to one win in the World Championship last December.

Heta is the 1.91 favourite with Scutt 2.08. It is a tough one to call and as we are on Scutt outright, there is no need to get involved, but I will take some cover and back Heta.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Damon Heta to win @ 1.95 with Ladbrokes

Rob Cross vs. Danny Noppert

Our final outright selection also could have had a better draw. At least Cross is the 1.73 favourite. He has won six of his last ten matches and is playing well enough, if a little inconsistently.

Noppert, a former winner of this title, has also won six of his last ten matches including an easy 10-2 win over Daryl Gurney last night. Gurney was poor, but it was another solid mid 90s average for Noppert and that is what he does. He is very consistent, hard to beat but relatively poor at the business end of tournaments. We are not at that stage yet.

Their H2H record is 5-4 to Rob Cross and on TV 1-1. Cross was 2-1 in 2024 with two 6-1 wins on the Euro Tour. Hopefully Cross can get through this, but I am happy to sit this one out. No bet.

2025 UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tip: No Bet

-JamesPunt