Friday Evening UK Open Darts Preview

A superb start for us today at the UK Open. James Punt was on flames, firing in six winners from nine tips. Let’s hope for more of the same tonight at the FA Cup of Darts. His Friday Evening UK Open darts tips are below.

The first round sees the format move to best of 19 legs and the longer format should make things a bit tougher for the lesser ranked players.

Darius Labanauskas vs. Jose de Sousa

Lucky D has had a very poor start to 2023. He has played 11 matches and lost 9. His highest average has been 93.8, one of only three 90+ plus averages. Needless to say, he has really suffered when against the top players, but is Jose de Sousa still a top player?

The Special One has fallen from grace in the last couple of years, but not to the degree that Labanauskas has. He has been AWOL since playing in the Masters and I have no idea why. Injured, having time off, ill, who knows? But it is odd and hardly good preparation.

Their H2H record is an emphatic 7-1 to Jose and he has won the last seven in a row. They have not met since 2021 and both players have regressed form wise since then. De Sousa is still playing the better darts and so long as he is fit and able, he should justify odds of 1.44. I’ll back him on the handicap and hope that there is nothing wrong with him.

Friday Evening UK Open Tip: 1 point Jose de Sousa to win -2.5 legs @ 1.91 with Boylesports, Ladbrokes

Adam Gawlas vs. Luke Littler

The boy wonder won all his three matches today with a combined average of 94.66. He has been capable of raising his game from junior level to senior level. He survived four match darts to beat Ritchie Edhouse and it will be interesting to see how much that took out of him. Can he draw from the well one more time and make to the second day?

Gawlas is still a young man himself but he hasn’t kicked on since winning his tour card last year. His recent form sees four wins from his last ten and his seasonal average is 89.1. His highest average is 96.8 but there have been five sub 90s. He is worth taking on but don’t be surprised if the longer format (and three matches) has taken the edge off him, but Gawlas isn’t at his best and worth taking on.

Friday Evening UK Open Tip: 1 point Like Littler to win @ 1.95 with Boylesports

Martin Lukeman vs. Kevin Doets

Martin Lukeman made his name on the euro tour last year but he hasn’t started 2023 in great form. He has played 13 and lost 8. He beat a qualifier earlier, 6-4, and averaged 90. Doets won both his opening matches with averages of 90 and 89. He has now played 15 matches in 2023 and won seven. He is well regarded in some circles but I’m not sure myself.  If this was a best of 11 leg matches it might be worth backing him against an out of form Lukeman, but I’ll skip.

Friday Evening UK Open Tip: No Bet

Ritchie Burnett vs. Florian Hempel

Hempel beat Hughes 6-3 today and I was right to walk away from that one. He only averaged 89 and his 2023 form remains poor. Ritchie Burnett is not a player I like, his throw is poor but he only dropped three legs in his two wins today and averaged 92.5. That may be enough against an out of form Hempel. He has lost six of his last ten, with seven sub 90 averages.

Friday Evening UK Open Tip: 1 point Burnett to win @ 1.95 with Boylesports

Mensur Suljovic vs. Karel Sedlacek

Evil Charlie has been kind to us over the last year or so and he can do us another favour here. He averaged 107 when beating Micky Flynn 6-1, with the Irishman averaging 98. Suljovic ended a run of eight straight defeats in 2023 with a 6-3 over Mickey Mansell, who averaged just 79.

Friday Evening UK Open Tip: 1 point Karel Sedlacek to win@ 2.00 with Ladbrokes

Time has beaten me and that is it for today. There might be a few bets tomorrow, most likely the evening, but the Formula 1 takes precedence.

-JamesPunt