Friday European Championship Darts Tips – JP
Friday European Championship Darts Preview
The first round of this important tournament began last night. James Punt landed a couple of winners but his headline outright tip Rob Cross crashed out. At least Josh Rock made it through and he’ll only improve for the experience. We have eight more first round matches tonight, James’ Friday European Championship Darts tips are below.
Dave Chisnall vs. Stephen Bunting
The H2H record is 10-7 to Dave Chisnall but he has won their last seven matches and Bunting has not beaten Chizzy for nearly five years. Bunting has played in six previous European Championships and only lost one first round match. Chisnall has played in ten and lost just three first round matches.
Both are in decent nick, with Chisnall winning seven of his last ten matches and picking up two titles in five weeks. He played some great stuff in the players championship events last weekend, winning PC25, beating Anderson, Humphries, Price and Rock. There was a 114 average and five ton plus averages on his way to that title and his A game is very strong at the moment.
Bunting has been playing some good stuff as well, but his consistency is not good and it seems more likely that Chisnall will continue his run of victories over Bunting. He is the 1.57 favourite to do so, Bunting 2.60 to turn the tide. They have met just once in 2022, back in late January, when Chizzy won 6-0 at The Masters. I will take Chizzy on the handicap, which he covered in four of their last five best of 11 leg matches.
Friday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point Dave Chisnall to win -1.5 legs @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes, SpreadEx
Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Daryl Gurney
A match between the two players who are the most out of form in the tournament. Dimitri has lost eight of his last ten matches. He has lost his last three in a row 1-6 and four of the last five 1-6. It is only six weeks ago that he was in the final of ET 11 and it is hard to see where this run of poor results came from. He has lost both his previous first round matches in this event.
Superchin has lost seven of his last ten matches and the last five in a row. Neither player has been as abject as the bare form suggests, but neither will be feeling in any way confident. Gurney has a 6-3 H2H record with Van den Bergh, but it is Van den Bergh who has won their last three and Gurney hasn’t beaten the Belgian since 2019.
It is probably best to just walk past this one, but I’ll put some loose change on Dimitri’s 1-6 curse to strike again. These two have not had too many close matches with six of their eight best of 11 leg matches being under 10 legs, and with both being out of confidence, a bad start from one could quickly spiral out of control.
Friday European Championship Darts tips: 0.5 point Daryl Gurney to win 6-1 @ 29.00 with Betfred
Friday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point under 9.5 legs @ 1.80 with SpreadEx
Joe Cullen vs. Ross Smith
Both players have won six of their last ten matches and both have won one of their two matches in 2022 (7-5 to Cullen overall). Smith has been putting in some eye-catching performances lately, one being a 103 average last weekend when he lost 5-6 to Cullen. That will give Cullen some comfort, knowing that he was able to beat Smith at his best so recently.
It also suggests that if he is to win again, he is going to have to work for it. They have played 11 best of eleven leg matches and eight went over nine legs.
Friday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes, Betfred, Boylesports
Jose de Sousa vs. Martin Schindler
Two players who have very good A games but lack the consistency to make the most of them. De Sousa has been reaching plenty of quarter and semi-finals but not finals and his win rate has dropped to below 60% for the first time since he got his tour card. He has won six of his last ten and still hits plenty of big averages, but he falls back in to sub 90s too frequently to be a title contender.
Martin Schindler is 2-1 with De Sousa but they haven’t met for a while. Schindler has won five of his last ten matches and his play is very similar to De Sousa, some stunning matches and too much sub 90 stuff.
You really do not know what you will get from either player and these are never great matches to bet on. No bet.
Friday European Championship Darts tips: No Bet
Peter Wright vs. Ryan Meikle
Snakebite is the 1.23 favourite to beat Meikle, the 4.50 outsider. That may be doing Meikle a disservice as he has shown some good form lately. He reached the semi-final of PC27 at the weekend and hit a ton average against Jim Williams, 98 when beating Joe Cullen, 102.6 against Martin Lukeman, 98.5 against Gary Anderson but just 86.8 when losing to Wright in the semi-final.
Wright played well enough in the players championships events last weekend, winning 9 of his thirteen matches and was runner up to Rob Cross (remember him?) in PC27 on Saturday. He played Meikle in the semi-final that day and won 7-2, despite putting in a modest performance.
It was notable that Meikle had played very well in PC27 until he played Wright, who didn’t play well himself. Was he already mentally beaten before the start of the match?
Wright Dominant in H2H
Overall, their H2H record is 6-1 to Wright and he has won their last six in a row, all since 2020. That could have been the reason Meikle folded so easily in the semi. He has got used to losing to Wright.
Wright probably is guilty of losing more matches than he should, given that he is largely a consistently heavy scorer. However, he has Meikle’s number and their H2H record speaks for itself. Wright has lost two first round matches in this event in the last three years and he is opposable in this first to six leg format, but does Meikle really believe that he can turn the tide against Snakebite? Sadly, this is another no bet.
Friday European Championship Darts tips: No Bet
Gerwyn Price vs. Rowby-John Rodriguez
Price warmed up for this by reaching two semi-finals at the players championships last weekend, winning 10 of his 13 matches in total. He was consistent and while he failed to win a title, there was a lot to like about his performances. His H2H record with Rowby-John is 6-1, with Rodriguez winning their only match in 2022. None of their matches has gone to a deciding leg and none of their five best of 11 leg matches have gone beyond eight legs.
Not In Form
Rodriguez has lost six of his last ten matches so he isn’t in great form but is still capable of big averages and he likes the stage. He has played in two European Championships, but that was back in 2014 and 2015, winning just one match.
Rodriguez is a tricky player to call as he does possess a very good A game which can upset the form book when he accesses it. However, Price usually has the measure of him and he should win, probably fairly comfortably.
Friday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point under 8.5 legs @ 2.50 with Boylesports
Michael van Gerwen vs. Chris Dobey
MVG has only lost two first round matches from 13 appearances in this event, Dobey one win from two. Their H2H record is stark, 11-0 to Van Gerwen and he loves these matches against his rabbits.
Dobey has the game to beat anybody, but maybe not the self-belief to go with it, especially when it comes to playing MVG. He has taken him to a deciding leg five times, but Van Gerwen always emerges victorious. They have met twice in 2022 with MVG winning 6-5 on the Euro Tour and most recently winning their World Grand Prix quarter final 3-1.
Dobey won eight of his twelve matches in the players championship events last weekend and hit six ton plus averages along the way. He should be able to give Van Gerwen another match, maybe another deciding leg?
Friday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.30 with Betfred
Friday European Championship Darts tips: 0.5 point MVG to win 6-5 @ 7.50 generally available
Jonny Clayton vs. Gabriel Clemens
Clayton has played four first round matches here and won three, Clemens has failed to get beyond the first round from his two previous attempts. He will not have been delighted to draw Clayton as he has only beaten him twice in twelve attempts. They have met twice in 2022 and Clayton won both, the last a 6-5 Euro Tour match last month.
Clayton has won six of his last ten and while he may not be at his best in 2022, he remains a consistently good scorer and that firepower should be enough to send Clemens home early once more. Half of Clemens’ last ten matches have seen him hit sub 90 averages and anything like that and he could get heavily beaten. He lost both his previous matches here 3-6 despite playing well in both.
