2025 German Darts Championship R1 Preview – JP
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Preview
James Punt has already posted an outright betting preview and tips, you can see that here. Check out his 2025 German Darts Championship R1 preview below.
Cameron Menzies vs. Wesley Plaisier
These two played on Tuesday and Big Wes won 6-3, his first win over Menzies. The Scotsman had won their first four, including a 6-5 win on the Euro Tour in May. They played a floor match in February and that also ended 6-5 to Menzies.
Plaisier has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing at a very similar level to Menzies.
Cameron Menzies is the 1.80 favourite, Plaisier 2.05. Plaisier is tempting, but perhaps the safer option is to go for a close match.
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.91 generally available
Niels Zonneveld vs. Darius Labanauskas
Single Z has won seven of his last ten matches, reaching the semi-final of PC31 on Tuesday. He isn’t a rock-solid prospect, but he is playing well enough.
Lucky D is in poor form, losing eight of his last ten matches and scoring poorly. He is 2-2 with Zonneveld, but they have not played since 2023.
Zonneveld is the 1.54 favourite, Labanauskas 2.62. Given their relative recent form, it is impossible to see past Zonneveld. I will take him on the handicap.
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Tip: 1 point Zonneveld to win -1.5 legs @ 1.85 with Boylesports
Jeffrey de Graaf vs. Steve Lennon
De Graaf has won on the Pro Tour in 2025 and is a good player, but his recent form sees just five wins from his last ten. He is playing some good stuff but not with any consistency. He has only played one Euro Tour match in 2025, losing 2-6 to Dirk van Duijvenbode. He did play well, both averaged 96, but Dirk was very good on the doubles, checking out at 66%.
Steve Lennon has a win rate of just 43% in 2025. He is still capable of a good performance, but it only happens every five or six matches. He too has only played one Euro Tour match this year and lost that 3-6 to Krzysztof Ratajski.
These two have met twice and De Graaf has won both, the most recent a 6-4 win last August.
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Tip: 1 point Jeffrey de Graaf to win @ 1.80 with SpreadEX, BET365
Wessel Nijman vs. Martin Kramer
A typical Euro Tour first round mismatch. No bet.
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Tip: No Bet
Ryan Joyce vs. Justin Hood
With a name like Hood, you have to expect Justin to be pretty handy with a few arrows. He does have a very good A-game and in the first few months after winning his tour card in January, he hit three 106+ averages. Most recently, Hood has lost six of his last ten matches and hit six sub 90 averages.
Ryan Joyce is a vastly more experienced player and in better form, winning six of his last ten matches. He is not in great form overall though, a bit too inconsistent. Hood has played one Euro Tour event and beat Joe Cullen in round one, before losing 1-6 to Josh Rock. He played well in both matches, averaging 98 and 95 respectively.
This will be their third match and Joyce has won both. Their last match was played last month and Joyce won that match 6-2. Joyce has played eleven first round matches in 2025 and won nine.
Joyce is the 1.54 favourite with Hood 2.75. Hood is seeing some support in the market but Joyce has won his last six first round matches in a row and I will take him on the handicap.
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Tip: 1 point Ryan Joyce to win -1.5 legs @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes
Luke Woodhouse vs. Tom Bissell
Bissell is not in good form, losing eight of his last ten matches. He has played three Euro Tour matches in 2025, winning one first round match, a 6-5 win over Van Duijvenbode in ET12 last month, but he lost his other two and did not average above 88.
Woodhouse has had a good Euro Tour season and is 17th on the European OOM. He has lost five of his last ten matches and he seems to have lost his good form at just the wrong time of year. He was runner up in the Swiss Darts Trophy three weeks ago and he has won ten of his thirteen first round matches.
Woody is the 1.40 favourite and Bissell 3.00. The odds look about right. Woodhouse is 1.73 to win with a -1.5 leg handicap and he should cover it, but the value is marginal. No bet.
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Tip: No Bet
Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Felix Springer
Ratajski is just £500 inside the cut-off point for the European Championship, so he needs to win this and probably his second-round match as well, depending on other results.
He has been lucky with the draw, getting to face a local qualifier, Felix Springer, who plays some Development tour matches and PDC next Gen series. His seasonal average is 77 and this is his Euro Tour debut.
Ratajski is the 1.10 favourite and this should be a routine win. The local qualifiers can be too easy to underestimate and he will have the crowd behind him. How many legs could he get? No idea. No bet.
2025 German Darts Championship R1 Tip: No Bet
Andrew Gilding vs. William O’Connor
Gilding is 31st on the provisional qualifiers list, one place ahead of Ratajski. When the Pole wins the preceding match, Gilding will be in last place. He needs to win this to have a realistic chance of making the finals, and he has drawn a proper player.
O’Connor still has a chance to make the European Championship, but he needs to reach the quarter finals, and that may still not be enough.
Gilding has won just three of his last ten matches. He is playing a bit better than that sounds, but he is under pressure to win. His PDC OOM ranking is 32nd, and he will be desperate to keep that top 32 ranking as it gets him into big events.
Less Pressure For Magpie
O’Connor is under less pressure. He knows his chance of making the European Championships are slim, for now. He is way short of making the top 32 but his card is under no threat. His recent form sees six wins from his last ten matches and he is playing with much the same inconsistency as Gilding.
Their H2H record is 6-5 to Gilding. The only thing about their H2H record that stands out is that they rarely have a close game. Only two of their eleven matches, all best of eleven legs, have been over 9.5 legs. The last was six matches ago, in 2018.
