Monday World Grand Prix Darts Preview and Tips – JP
Monday World Grand Prix Darts Tips
The 2022 World Grand Prix starts this evening and James Punt’s outright preview is here. He’ll also be previewing every single session in the coming week, his Monday World Grand Prix darts tips are below.
Callan Rydz vs. Krzysztof Ratajski
I have Rydz down as the player most likely to lose his opening match. I don’t know the reason why but suspect it is due to an injury, but Rydz has not been playing much darts for a while now.
Since losing in the first round of the Matchplay in mid-July, Rydz has only played one match, losing it 0-6 to Stephen Bunting. He is a very talented player, but clearly something has not been right with him. If he has sorted whatever it is out, we could get spanked here, but on the evidence we have, Rydz should be opposed.
Ratajski isn’t in great form himself, losing five of his last ten matches, but at least he has been playing. He reached the final of PC 22 in early August but his form has dropped off since then. I can’t see him getting very far this week, but he looks to have got a good draw here.
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: 2 points Ratajski to win @ 1.66 with SpreadEx
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: 1 point Ratajski to win 2-0 @ 2.88 with Betfred
Brendan Dolan vs. Stephen Bunting
The History maker has a special affinity with this event, if not the venue. His form is hard to get a grip on as he won PC 21 in mid-July but since then has only won five of his twelve matches. He has only won one of his matches in this event in his last six appearances. His H2H record with Bunting is 2-3, but they have not met since 2019 and Dolan has improved since then. Three of their five matches have required a deciding leg.
Stephen Bunting made the semi-final here last year and on his debut in 2014, but won just two matches in between. He has won five of his last ten matches and hit five ton plus averages in those ten. Three of his defeats were due to double trouble and that is a worry in this format.
Bunting Backed
Bunting is the 1.80 favourite and is being backed. The odds look about right to me, neither player is in great form, but Bunting has been hitting some big averages and he deserves favouritism. One part of their game where there has been a big gulf between them is in terms of 180 hitting. Since 1st July, Bunting has been hitting 180s at 0.33 per leg, Dolan 0.08 per leg. The last time Dolan played on stage at the Matchplay, he hit just one across 16 legs.
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: 2 points Stephen Bunting to have the most 180s @ 1.50 with Ladbrokes, Hills
Chris Dobey vs. Luke Humphries
I recently backed Dobey to win a match against Bradley Brooks and it didn’t take long for buyer’s remorse to kick in. It is like backing Nicolas Latifi to do anything other than retire in Formula 1. Just don’t do it. He is a very talented player but struggles to convert that talent into as many wins as he should. He is in decent form, winning six of his last ten, but he flopped against Brooks, losing 5-6 and averaging 85.
These two have met nine times with Humphries winning five and three of the last four, including their only match in 2022. Humphries is having his best ever season, winning four euro tour (ET) titles and a players championship. He is a proven tournament winner these days, not just a promising young player.
Humphries is the 1.44 favourite and he should win but this not a match with any great appeal betting wise.
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: No Bet
Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Dave Chisnall
Dave Chisnall has made the FDI rankings number 1 spot after winning the Belgian Darts Open last weekend. His win rate in 2022 is 73% and while his form is not rock solid consistency wise, he will be feeling confident. His record vs. Dimitri is 6-3 and he has won seven of his last ten matches. He has reached at least the quarter finals of this event for five of the last six years
Van den Bergh reached the final of ET 11 last month but he wasn’t very impressive scoring wise in that tournament and he has now lost three matches in a row, and five of his last ten. He is very hard to read at the moment, inconsistent, not at his best, but not easy to dismiss. His tournament record isn’t great having won just one match in three appearances.
Chisnall is the marginal 2.00 outsider despite his better recent form and H2H record against Van den Bergh. He has been very hot on double 18 in recent weeks and hopefully that will allow him to get off quickly.
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: 1 point Dave Chisnall to win @ 2.00 with Hills, Bet365
Jonny Clayton vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
This should be a treat and it is just a shame they meet in such a short format and not in the latter stages. Both are potential tournament winners and Clayton the defending champion.
They have met ten times, three times this year, and Clayton is 7-3 overall and 2-1 in 2022. Both are heavy scorers, and both have won six of their last ten matches. Their last was a mini classic with Clayton beating Dirk on the ET 6-4, averaging 106 to Van Duijvenbode’s 105.
The Ferret is the 1.73 favourite which is fair enough given their H2H record but you can make a case for either player.
I will play in the 180 market, usually a good idea when Van Duijvenbode is playing. He has consistently been the top or one of the top 180 hitters in the game for the last year or so and in the last three months he has been hitting them at a rate of 0.35 per leg compared to Clayton’s 0.26.
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: 1 point Dirk van Duivenbode to hit the most 180s @ 1.67 with Hills
Peter Wright vs. Kim Huybrechts
Snakebite is our number 1 ante post selection for the tournament, so hopefully he gets off to a good start against one of the big outsiders.
Huybrechts has won five of his last ten matches but over the last three months, of the 32 players in the tournament he is ranked 28th of checkout %, 31st for 3 dart average and 28th for 180s per leg. Only one of his last ten matches has seen an average over 91, and that was just a 92. Wright on the other hand is ranked 1st for checkout %, 1st for 3 dart average and 9th for 180s per leg.
Wright Hot Fav
Peter Wright is the 1.31 favourite and while it looks like a bit of a shoe in, their H2H record does carry a warning. Wright is 20-13 up, but Huybrechts has won their last three, 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0. That includes a match in June of this year. That is weird.
Backing outright is enough interest for me and I just hope that H2H record doesn’t come back to bite my arse.
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: No Bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Gary Anderson
Two giants of the game…..blah, blah, blah. It would have been true a few years ago but now it is one giant of the game vs. a semi-retired pro.
MVG is having a very good season with six titles won. His win rate continues to slide, now at 71%, and he is no longer the number 1 player, but is one of the elite. He has won five of his last ten matches and just one of his last five, so his confidence isn’t great.
Since 1st July, in this field of 32 players, he is ranked 31st for checkout %, 8th for 3 dart average and 8th for 180s per leg. That performance on the outer ring is a worry if you are backing MVG as the 1.45 favourite.
Their H2H record is 47 – 19 to Van Gerwen (with three draws), but it is Anderson who has won two of their last three matches, all played this year. That is a surprise.
Inactive Anderson
Anderson doesn’t play much these days and many expect him to retire after the World Championships. He said at last year’s World Championships that he was going to ‘play everything in 2022’ but the reality is that since the end of the Premier League in May, he has played just 17 matches, and one in the last two months.
That is not the schedule of a motivated player. He has won just seven of those last seventeen matches but now and again, he shows what he can do when he puts his mind to it, like a 111 average when beating Stephen Bunting in a players championship in August.
Van Gerwen is the 1.45 favourite, Anderson 3.00. They last met in this event in the 2016 final, which MVG won 5-2.
Rusty Scotsman?
If Anderson is to pull off a surprise, he will need to have put some work in, some practice, and I have no idea if he has bothered. He was due to have regular practice sessions with Ryan Searle but apparently they have had just one session this year.
It is always worth considering opposing MVG these days, he is often priced like the beast who won 91% of his matches in 2016 and not the 71% in 2022. The question here is how motivated is Anderson? I have no idea. We just don’ get to see him play often enough to get a handle of his form. He can beat MVG, has done twice this year, but is he bothered?
I was prepared to oppose MVG this week, but I would need more than 3.00 to do so with Gary Anderson.
Monday World Grand Prix darts Tip: No Bet
Jose de Sousa vs. Adrian Lewis
A few months ago, and this would have been a question of by how much De Sousa would win by, but we have seen some signs of a return to form by Lewis. He won PC20 in July but then had to take time out to look after his family as his wife was ill.
That off the oche issue has impacted his form with only 8 matches played since that win, and while he won five of them, he only averaged over 90 twice. We saw him back in action at the recent Belgian Darts Open, where he reached the quarter final after good performance against Huybrechts and Krčmar, but he then lost tamely to Danny Noppert.
Inconsistent
These two have met just twice, with De Sousa winning both. The Special One has not been at his best for a while but he can sill play some good stuff. He has won seven of his last ten matches with a few decent runs on the ET. He is lacking consistency which we saw again in the Belgian Darts Open, when he averaged 106 when beating Ryan Searle 6-4 but then averaged 86 when losing 2-6 to Dave Chisnall.
Lewis was runner up in this event back in 2010 but since then, he has failed to get beyond the second round. However, he has won six of his last nine first round matches. De Sousa has only played in two Grand Prix and won just one match.
This not an easy call. They are quite closely matched in terms of recent form and an argument can be made for both players. DeSousa is the 1.73 favourite, Lewis the 2.45 outsider. I would have to give Lewis a better chance than the odds imply.
