Finals Night Czech Darts Open Preview

A poor afternoon for us today but every cloud has a silver lining. Both of James Punt’s outright fancies made it to the last eight so the dream is still alive. Check out his Finals Night Czech Darts Open preview and tips below.

Rob Cross vs. Michael van Gerwen

Cross got off to a flying start vs. Karel Sedláček this afternoon, going 4-0 up. That shut the home crowd up and effectively disarmed Evil Charlie. The Czech player did stage a bit of a comeback, hitting three 14 dart legs, but it was too big a mountain to climb and Cross won 6-3, averaging 96.4.

Michael van Gerwen beat Josh Rock 6-5, hitting an 11 dart leg to break Rock in the deciding leg. Rock had missed two chances to break MVG earlier in the match and ultimately that cost him the match. MVG averaged 102.9 and was 54.5% on the doubles.

MVG Dominant

The H2H record between these two tells us who is very likely to win this match. MVG leads by a whopping 24-6. Cross did beat MVG the last time they played. That was a 10-7 win at The Masters at the end of January. They have met eight times on the Euro Tour (including two finals) and MVG won seven with Cross’ only win way back in 2017.

Clearly, MVG is very comfortable playing Cross and I’ll have a small wager on his fourth 6-3 win over him on the Euro Tour.

Finals Night Czech Darts Open Tip: 0.5 point MVG to win 6-3 @ 6.00 with SpreadEx, Betfred, Fitzdares

Nathan Aspinall vs. Dave Chisnall

The Asp hit peak form in his 6-1 over Ryan Searle. It was a 105.85 average with 50% on the doubles. He was a very happy bunny afterwards and he is in a good place on and off the oche. He is playing with much more fluency, playing at a faster pace and his game is much better for it.

Aspinall has reached two quarter finals on the Euro Tour in 2023 and won one, lost the other just two weeks ago.

Chisnall played in fits and starts when beating Andrew Gilding 6-4. He averaged 99.25 in the end and his checkout rate was an excellent six out of seven. He has won seven of his last ten matches. In the last 12 months he has played four Euro Tour quarter finals and won them all so he is very comfortable at this stage.

H2H Close

Their H2H record is very close at 7-6 in Chisnall’s favour. They have met six times on the Euro Tour and Chizzy has won four to Aspinall’s two. In those six matches, Chisnall has hit the most 180s five times.

His 12month 180s per leg rate is 0.37, compared to Aspinall’s 0.26. Only Dirk van Duijvenbode and Ross Smith hit at a better rate than Chisnall. His has hit four in both his matches this weekend while Aspinall has hit two and three in his two matches.

Finals Night Czech Darts Open Tip: 1 point Dave Chisnall to hit the most 180s @ 1.80 with Betfred, Fitzdares

Jonny Clayton vs. Damon Heta

There was another ton plus average from Clayton in his 6-3 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode. He missed 14 doubles so it could have been even better. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is in great form. The Ferret will need to be sharper on the doubles but he starts as the 1.62 favourite.

Heta beat Kim Huybrechts 6-5 earlier, despite being outgunned by the Belgian. It was a match marked by missed doubles. Heta missed 14 which accounts for his average of just 90.46. He will have to improve if he is to get past Clayton.

Heta has won seven of his last ten matches but six have seen averages of 93 or less and he could find himself outgunned again by Clayton tonight.

Heta Edges H2H

Their H2H record is 6-5 to Damon Heta but Clayton has beaten the Aussie twice in 2023, both on the Euro Tour, 6-4 in ET 5 and 6-3 just last week. Heta played well against Clayton in those recent Euro Tour matches, but Clayton averaged 105.89 and 100.7 last week, and was just too good.

The Ferret has been the better player of the two this weekend and in their last two matches. He should win but his odds are not great value. No bet.

Finals Night Czech Darts Open Tip: No bet

Peter Wright vs. Luke Humphries

Snakebite played with his World Championship darts and it worked. He averaged 101.81 in a 6-3 win over a very disappointing Danny Noppert. The Dutchman was just 17% on his doubles and he let Wright have the match.

It was a confidence building win for Wright but his overall form suggests that there is a bad one coming at some point. Maybe he will use a different set of darts and trip himself up. He has played two Euro Tour quarter finals in 2023 and lost both, 0-6 to MVG in ET 3 and 1-6 to Chizzy in ET6 a couple of weeks ago.

That defeat to Chizzy came on the back of Wright beating Michael Smith in the 3rd round, averaging 102. There is very little in the way of consistency in his game.

Dimitri Dispatched

Humphries dispatched a very poor Van den Bergh 6-1 earlier. Cool Hand averaged 97.77 with 40% on the doubles and he was never in any bother.

The H2H record between Wright and Humphries is 3-2 to Wright and he won their last match, a Euro Tour quarter final 6-3 last October. That was before he lost his form. Humphries is the better player these days and he is the favourite with most firms who have priced up, but not by much.

We are on Humphries for the title so there is no need to get involved here. 1.91 for a Humphries win looks reasonable value, but I will sit this one out after this afternoon’s drubbing.

Finals Night Czech Darts Open Tip: No Bet

We have a week off the Euro Tour next week but it’s back again in two weeks with the European Darts Grand Prix.

Fingers crossed For Humphries and Chisnall for the rest of tonight’s action.

-JamesPunt