Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts Tips – JP
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts Preview
The GSOD gets underway today and James Punt’s outright preview and tips can be read here. Now though, it is time for his first daily preview, check out his Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips below.
Simon Whitlock vs. Mensur Suljovic
A bit of a seniors’ match to kick off proceedings. Simon Whitlock earned his place by winning the World Cup of Darts alongside Damon Heta. He hasn’t done much outside of that in 2022 and won’t have been best pleased to be drawn in the same group as Suljovic, a player he has not beaten since 2018. The Austrian has a 11-6 H2H record with Whitlock, and he has won their last six matches in a row. Whitlock is not in great form, losing five of his last ten.
Mensur Suljovic is back to playing more regularly and has won six of his last ten matches. His consistency isn’t what he would like it to be which makes calling the winner hard. Neither are at their best and both are sliding down the rankings.
The market has made Whitlock the 1.83 favourite with Suljovic 2.00. Both players are attracting money and I expected them to be about the same price. Given Suljovic’s H2H record, he has the better claim to favouritism and while it is not huge value, Suljovic is the call.
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: 1 point Mensur Suljovic to win @ 2.00 with Hills, BET365, Betvictor
Dirk Van Duijvenbode vs. Martin Schindler
This could a good one, if Schindler can bring his A game. The diminutive German has a very good A game, he hit a 115 average in a match last month, and he is in good form, winning eight of his last ten matches. His H2H record with Dirk is 2-2. The Aubergenius has won six of his last ten and while losing his last three in a row sounds alarming, he did hit two ton plus averages in those three.
Both are scoring well and both hit plenty of 180s. Between the two of them a rate of 0.70 per leg. We know that Dirk is the best 180 hitter in the business but many wouldn’t expect Schindler to be not far off him, ranked 6th for 180s per leg.
This could be a close one. It is only a first to five format and these short games can get away from a player very quickly. But with both playing well, hopefully we will get a close one, with more chances to hit maximums.
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: 1 point Martin Schindler to win +1.5 legs @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: 1 point over 4.5 180s @ 1.80 with SpreadEx
Joe Cullen vs. Ritchie Edhouse
Cullen is the 1.45 favourite and he is the better player. He has won six of his last ten matches. He hit three ton plus averages in those ten, but also two sub 90 averages and two of 90. Consistency is not a strength at the moment. His H2H record with Edhouse is 4-2 and he beat him last weekend, a 6-3 win with Cullen averaging 102. Cullen has won both their matches in 2022 with a combined score of 12-7. All four of his wins have been 6-3 or 6-4.
Journeyman Edhouse is making his debut but he is an experienced player so that won’t faze him. He has won seven of his last ten matches but his scoring is some way off what Cullen usually produces.
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: 1 point Joe Cullen to win -1.5 legs @ 1.73 with Ladbrokes
Dave Chisnall vs. Raymond van Barneveld
Another match between two of the elder statesmen of the game. Barney is on the wane and his comeback nearly two years ago has yielded just one title and he had to come through the qualifying tournament to get a place here.
Chizzy has picked up a Players Championship and a Euro Tour event in the last six weeks and he warmed up for this by reaching two semi-finals last weekend. He has won eight of his last ten and had six ton plus averages in those ten.
Barney has a 13-12 H2H record against Chisnall but Chizzy has won their last four and seven of their last ten. Barney has also won eight of his last ten matches but he struggles to get his scoring to the same level as Chisnall.
Chizzy is the 1.42 favourite and Barney 3.40. The market has it right here. No bet.
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: No Bet
Rob Cross vs. Adam Gawlas
Gawlas came through the qualifying tournament with one of the lowest averages in it. Sub 90 averages in all four, but he still managed to fall over the line. He has won six of his last ten matches but had seven sub 90 averages. His seasonal average is 88.11 so scoring has been a problem not just something recent.
Cross’ seasonal average is 95.54 so he has a significant scoring advantage. He too has won six of his last ten matches with three of them ton plus averages, but there have been a couple of sub 90s. Three of his defeats came when his checkout % was 22% or worse and the doubles have been his weak spot. He has played in just seven TV matches in 2022 and won just two. He has played well on the floor and the Euro Tour, but he just hasn’t performed in the big ones.
Cross is the 1.28 favourite and Gawlas 4.33. Clearly, given Cross’ very poor record on TV in 2002, he can be opposed, but is Gawlas the man to oppose him with? Probably not. No bet.
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: No Bet
Danny Noppert vs. Christian Perez
Noppert is the second shortest priced favourite of the day at 1.17. He is a very consistent player these days and should be comfortably outscoring his Asian Championship winner opponent. I have never seen him play but his ‘seasonal’ average is 85.1 and that is some way short of Noppert’s 95.2. Noppert has won six of his last ten and while he may not be in top form, he should have no bother here.
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: 0.5 point Noppert to win 5-1 @ 4.20 with Betfred
Gerwyn Price vs. Ted Evetts
Hopefully our number 1 selection can get off to a good start with a comprehensive win over World Youth Champion, Ted Evetts.
Price warmed up by winning PC29 last weekend and promptly took the Saturday off to have an extra day at home. He has a 6-1 H2H record over Evetts and won the last six in a row. They last met back in March and Evetts took it to a deciding leg despite Price averaging 104.
Price is the 1.20 favourite which is fair enough but not of any use. Price got taken to a deciding leg in his opening match with Nathan Rafferty last year and taken to a decider by Mikuru Suzuki in 2020. It may not be as straight forward as the odds suggest.
The problem for Evetts isn’t just that he is playing Price, but that he has lost six of his last ten matches and had seven sub 90 averages. More of that and he could be on the wrong end of a hiding. Evetts has played in one previous Grand Slam and lost his opener against Simon Whitlock 1-5. No bet.
Saturday Afternoon Grand Slam of Darts tips: No bet
Michael Smith vs. Lisa Ashton
The biggest mis-match of the day according to the bookies with Smith the 1.08 favourite. He has won six of his last ten matches. He has a 3-1 H2H record against Ashton, losing their first meeting back in 2022. Bully Boy then beat Ashton 5-1 in this event later that year.
Lisa Ashton has played nine first round matches in this event and lost all nine. Only one was a whitewash, and there were four 5-1 and four 5-2 defeats.
