Saturday European Championship Darts Tips – JP
Saturday European Championship Darts Preview
We are now into the last 16 and Josh Rock is our last man standing. MVG crashed out vs an inspired Chris Dobey but we at least got something back on the over 9.5 legs bet. James had a few nice winners on Friday, let’s hope for more of the same today. Check out his Saturday European Championship Darts tips: below.
Vincent van der Voort vs. Danny Noppert
Van Der Voort was a surprise winner against Damon Heta on Thursday. He only averaged 87 as Heta just imploded in another major flop. This will be a proper test against the much improved Noppert.
Noppert beat Andrew Gilding 6-3 and Gilding can have no complaints as Noppert was the better player, averaging 99. He has won six of his last ten matches and isn’t quite at his best, but is pretty consistent scoring wise and Van der Voort will need his A game, which is not regularly on Show.
Close Matches
Their H2H record is 4-2 to Noppert and he has won their two matches in 2002. Their matches have mostly been quite close and in their only best of 19 leg match, Van der Voort won 10-7 at last year’s Players Championship finals. Vincent has only reached this stage of the tournament twice and only won once, last year. Noppert is the same, albeit he has only played in three before this.
Noppert is the 1.33 favourite which is too short. Van der Voort possesses a good A game and can cause Noppert problems. Noppert is the better player and should win, but this may be closer than the bookies think.
Saturday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point Vincent van der Voort to win +3.5 legs @ 1.75 with Boylesports
Luke Humphries vs. Ryan Searle
Both players averaged 102 in their first-round wins. Searle survived a match dart from Martin Lukeman and won 6-5. Humphries beat Ratajski 6-4 and was made to work hard but he had five legs of 15 or fewer darts and was just that bit better than Ratajski in the end. Two good opening performances and this could be a corker, if they can keep that up.
Humphries In Top Form
Humphries has won seven of his last eight matches and hit six ton plus averages in those eight. He is in top form in other words. Searle has a 6-4 H2H record against Humphries and is 2-1 in 2022. Humphries won their only best of 19 leg matches 10-7 in last year’s UK Open.
Searle has been losing a lot of matches recently and his win on Thursday was just his third in his last ten. However, his standard of play has been markedly improved in his last eight or nine. He said that he had been a bit lazy in the summer and not practising enough. He has been back at the practice board and the results are now on show.
New Darts
Humphries is the 1.55 favourite, Searle 2.63 and that looks about right. With four euro tour titles in 2022, Humphries deserves a good run while Searle has never been a Euro Tour lover or performer. Humphries played with a brand new set of darts on Thursday, having left his playing set at home. It didn’t put him out of his stride and he might be even better with his ‘broken in’ set back in his hands.
Both players are good 180 hitters. Humphries is one of the very best and this has the makings of a long and fairly close match, so hopefully we will see plenty here. They hit seven between them in the first round first to six format and I think we should see over ten here.
Saturday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point over 10.5 180’s @ 2.08 with Unibet
James Wade vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
James Wade should have gone out and bought a lottery ticket after his 6-5 win over Rob Cross on Thursday. He will never be as lucky to catch Cross, not just on a bad night, but his worst night of 2022. Voltage didn’t spark, averaging just 83.8 and missing no less than 20 doubles. That it went to a deciding leg says a lot about Wade’s very poor performance.
You get matches like that, both players drag each other down and eventually one is just that bit worse than the other. Wade averaged just 86 and missed 14 doubles. He gave Cross every opportunity, but he couldn’t take them. Needless to say, Wade will have to play a lot better here.
Nerveless Dirk
Dirk van Duijvenbode showed none of his first night nerves in a 6-3 win over Madars Razma. The Latvian was just out gunned in the end, but he put up a decent defence before being overwhelmed by Dirk’s scoring. The match was finely poised at 4-3 to Dirk and two 14 dart legs closed it out. It was a good performance with a 102 average. That makes it eight wins from his last ten matches.
Wade has won six of his last ten matches and he lacks the firepower to deal with Van Duijvenbode. Their H2H record is 4-2 to Dirk and he has won their last four, including two in 2022.
Big 180 Hitter
These second-round matches are best of 19 legs which may suit the experience of Wade a little more, but Van Duijvenbode has won four of his five best of 19 leg matches this year. He is a monster 180 hitter, hitting them at a rate that is over twice what Wade has done in 2022. That will make him hard to break and allows him to put pressure on Wade’s throw.
Even if Wade does up his game here, and he is likely to, Dirk should just be able to overpower Wade more often than not.
Saturday European Championship Darts tips: 1 point Dirk van Duijvenbode to win -1.5 legs @ 1.83 with Ladbrokes
Michael Smith vs. Josh Rock
Usually you might say that Smith’s scoring power is likely to be the difference in a match, but he is the one who may be out gunned here. Rock has won 11 of his last 12 matches and had a ton plus average in half of them, with a worst of 93. He beat Nathan Aspinall 6-5 in the first round, averaging 96.6, a bit below par for him to be honest.
They last played about six weeks ago on the Euro Tour and Rock won that 6-3, but overall Smith is 2-1 up. This will be a new experience for Rock as he hasn’t played a best of 19 leg match since he won his tour card. He really is still very inexperienced.
Smith Average Slipping
Smith did enough to beat Karel Sedlacek 6-4. It was a decent performance but not his best and he has been a little way of his best for a few weeks. In his last 12 matches, his average has slipped below 90 five times, which is not like him
Rock was saying in a post-match interview on Thursday night, that he has been having problems getting out of a management contract and it is things like that which can be an unwelcome distraction for such an inexperienced player.
He has to be able to get his head down and work hard, trying not to get ahead of himself, especially with so many of the fancied players on their way home.
Rock is the 1.83 favourite here, Smith the 2.05 outsider. We are on Rock for the tournament and that is enough interest for me, especially as our other two selections flopped in the first round. No bet.
