Masters Darts Saturday Evening Preview – JP
Masters Darts Saturday Evening Preview and Tips
Another tough afternoon but James Punt still managed to find two winners. He has another two bets for tonight’s session. Check out his Masters Darts Saturday Evening match previews and tips below.
Gerwyn Price vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
The Iceman reached the final of both World Series events earlier in the month but failed to convert either chance. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is in good form, if not his best. Of course, the last we saw him playing in the UK he was being a bit of a fanny and wearing ear defenders whilst playing at the World Championship. A big mistake.
He let the boo boys know they were getting to him and that simply encourages them. The crowd at the Masters tend be more of a darts crowd than coked up football fans on a piss up, but there will be a few that won’t be able to resist giving him abuse.
Dirk In Good Form
Dirk is also in good form, also winning seven of his last ten. He tends to struggle in the later stages of tournaments, a bit of winning post fear creeping in perhaps. His massive 180 scoring power makes him a very dangerous opponent but he only hit two last night as he got the rust off with a 6-3 win over a rustier Ratajski. It was an OK performance, but he will need to up his scoring tonight.
There is only one stat that matters here. Their H2H record is 15-1 to Gerwyn Price (5-0 on TV). That is a mental lock over his opponent and remarkable given how powerful a scorer Dirk is, but of course, Price can punch hard too.
Price is the 1.62 favourite and Van Duijvenbode 2.60. Given their H2H record that looks a bit generous for Price. The last time they met was in the final of another non-ranking tournament, last year’s World Series finals which Price won 11-10. The rest of Price’s wins have been by a much more comfortable margin, and I’ll take him to cover the handicap.
Masters Darts Saturday Evening Tip: 1 point Gerwyn Price to win -2.5 legs @ 2.20 with Boylesports
Peter Wright vs. Dave Chisnall
Chizzy robbed Ryan Searle with a 6-5 win last night. A 12 dart deciding leg and a 161 checkout would have gutted Searle, who was sitting on 65 at the time. Chizzy never led the match until he hit the winning dart. He has won five of his last ten matches and should have won more as his scoring has been very strong. Five ton plus averages in those last ten and only two averages under 95.
Peter Wright won the last World Series event in Denmark last weekend. Beating MVG, Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price in successive matches will have done his confidence no harm at all. He has won seven of his last ten matches but outside of that last World Series event, he hasn’t been in great form. Will that little run be what he needed to flick the switch?
Wright Leads H2H Narrowly
Their H2H form sees a 17-14 lead for Wright (11-6 on TV) but Chisnall won their last two. They met here in a quarter final in 2020 and Wright won that 10-0. He was the newly crowned World Champion at the time, but he also beat Chisnall in another quarter final here the following year, that time by a margin of 10-5.
Peter Wright is the 1.73 favourite, Chisnall 2.30 and the money has been going down on Chisnall.
This is a hard call. Wright has good memories of playing Chisnall here, and Chisnall quite the opposite. Wright is coming here on the back of a title winning performance, albeit just an exhibition event. However, Chisnall is playing very well, if not quite able to make the most of his good scoring. Another ton plus average and defeat for Chisnall? It has happened in his last three defeats.
The temptation is to back Wright given their H2H form in this arena, but if Chizzy averages a ton plus, he has a good chance of overturning those heavy defeats. I am happy to sit this one out.
Masters Darts Saturday Evening Tip: No Bet
Michael Smith vs. Ross Smith
Smith vs. Smith sounds more like a divorce case, but it is a re-run of the European Championship final, which Ross won 11-8 with a 101 average. That was his first major title, and it was also Michael Smith’s last major final defeat.
Since then, he has won the Grand Slam, the World Championship and the Bahrain Masters. He has won nine of his last ten matches and the only area of concern is that he might need a bit of a break. He won’t get one as the Premier League starts next week and that is 4 months of nonstop travelling.
Ross beat Damon Heta 6-5 last night with both players below par. He has won five of his last ten but will have to hope that he got the rust off with that scrappy win.
Advantage Bully Boy
Michael Smith has the advantage of having played in two events leading up to this and he is in full flow. The World Champion and World Number 1 is the 1.47 favourite and the European Champion is 2.90. Their H2H record is 8-4 to Michael Smith but it was Ross who won their only TV match. Those odds look right to me.
Both players are 180 monsters and in that European Championship final, they were hitting the maximums at 0.84 per leg and in their only other match in 2022, it was 0.66 on the floor. Ross Smith only hit two last night, but he hit plenty of 140+ so he was not far away and should be a bit sharper tonight. Over 12.5 180s is a 2.10 shot and to be honest, there isn’t a lot of meat on that bone.
We are on Michael Smith to win the tournament and that is enough interest in this match for me. No bet.
Masters Darts Saturday Evening Tip: No Bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Jose de Sousa
MVG, a five time Masters champion, has won eight of his last ten matches and only one of those saw an average of less than 98. He is in top form.
De Sousa has won six of his last ten matches, including a 6-4 win over Gabriel Clemens last night. It was another match with both players below their best, both having sub 90 averages and both rusty. MVG got the rust off his game in Denmark, even though he only played two matches.
Their H2H record is 8-3 to MVG and he really doesn’t rate De Sousa, or maybe he is just pissed off that two of De Sousa’s wins came in finals. The Special One last beat MVG in 2021 and twice in 2020, but it is safe to say that De Sousa’s game has regressed, while MVG has regained his form after a couple of disappointing seasons.
Outscored
In De Sousa’s last ten matches, he has averaged above 95 just once and below 90 four times. He seems likely to be outscored and not able to put the required pressure on MVG.
Van Gerwen is the 1.22 favourite, the shortest of the tournament so far. He has covered a -3.5 leg handicap in last 16 best of 19 leg matches here in five of eight matches. Luke Humphries took him to a decider last year and he lost to Jonny Clayton in the preceding two. Now he is largely restored to something like his best form, he should have the fire power to cover it again.
