Saturday European Darts GP Preview

James kept things ticking over with another couple of winners on Friday night. He is back with another preview for this afternoon’s session, get his Saturday European Darts GP tips below.

Josh Rock vs. Keegan Brown

Rock is in great form, winning eight of his last ten matches. He is averaging 97.4 in 2023, considerably more than Brown’s 91.1. Brown beat Euro Tour debutant Marcel Walpen 6-3 yesterday. He only averaged 81 in doing so but it was all that was needed. That is not the kind of standard that is going to bother Rock.

They have met twice before and it is one win each, so Brown cannot be written off, he does have a good A game when he finds it. That said, Rock is a rapidly improving player who is a contender for tournament wins, not just picking up the odd win.

Rock is the 1.20 favourite, Brown 4.80. It is hard to find any value in any of the markets. No bet.

Saturday European Darts GP tip: No Bet

Dave Chisnall vs. Pascal Rupprecht

Rupprecht has been putting in some decent performances lately. He has won six of his last ten and he beat Christian Kist 6-5 yesterday. It was a decent effort but he is only a novice player and nearly half his matches see sub 90 averages, but his A game is good. He could turn out to be a decent player as he picks up more experience. He has already beaten players like Danny Noppert and James Wade.

Chizzy has been in great form in 2023, had a bit of a dip at the weekend but he has still won seven of his last ten and he is really enjoying playing on the Euro Tour. He is the 1.25 favourite and he should prevail, but don’t write off Rupprecht. We have backed Chizzy outright and that is enough interest for me.

Saturday European Darts GP tip: No Bet

Ross Smith vs. Steve Beaton

Beaton had a close battle with diminutive German Ricardo Pietreczko last night, winning 6-5. He has won six of his last ten matches and is in decent form. He has played six second round matches this year and won just two.

Ross Smith is having a frustrating time. He has lost six of his last ten matches and he is hitting a lot of ton averages and losing. There is not a lot wrong with his game. Last week in PC12 he hit nine 180’s and a 100.2 average but lost 5-6 to Wattimena. The day before a 102.8 average and 4-6 loss to Joe Murnan.

Their H2H record is 8-5 to Smith and he won three of their four matches last year including a 6-2 win in ET15.

Smith is the 1.36 favourite and he should be too strong for Beaton, but I refer you back to his last two matches. He has got into a bit of a losing habit. Their last four best of 11 leg matches have required less than ten legs. Under 9.5 legs is just 1.67 so there isn’t a lot of meat on that bone. I’ll take a chance on another 6-3 win for Smith.

Saturday European Darts GP tip: 0.5 point Ross Smith to win 6-3 @ 5.50 generally available

Ryan Searle vs. Madars Razma

Searle is another of the seeds who is not in good form, losing six of his last ten matches. He had a rare good run on the Euro Tour when he reached the semi-final of ET1, but since then he has played nine and lost five.

Razma beat Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 yesterday. He was 5-0 up but ended up surviving a match dart against him. That makes it five wins from his last ten and he has lost the two second round matches he has played on the Euro Tour this year. He has been very inconsistent lately with two ton plus averages in his last ten, but four sub 90’s.

If Razma finds his A game he can beat Searle, especially in Europe, and their H2H record is 2-1 to Searle.

Searle is the 1.36 favourite, Razma 3.50. I was looking to oppose Searle but I am just not sure that Razma is a player I want to back. No bet.

Saturday European Darts GP tip: No Bet

Rob Cross vs. Martijn Kleermaker

The 2.03 metres tall Dutchman was impressive in his 6-4 win over Alan Soutar yesterday. It was a funny game with Kleermaker scoring heavily (98.5 average). Soutar was 80% on the doubles and hung on, but eventually Kleermaker prevailed. Another performance like that and Cross has a job on his hands.

Cross won PC11 last Saturday so he comes here in great form, winning 9 of his last 10 matches. He lost to Chris Dobey in the fourth round of PC12 but averaged 111.00, so he is running hot.

Close H2H

These two have met four times and it is 2-2. They have met on the Euro Tour twice and Cross won both, easily, 6-1 and 6-2. Cross is the 1.30 favourite, Kleermaker 3.75. This could be a good game but it is hard to call. Kleermaker has lost both of his Euro Tour second round matches. He has played some nice stuff recently, but not with a lot of consistency. Cross is in great form and should justify his odds but this is a potential banana skin. No bet.

Saturday European Darts GP tip: No Bet

Danny Noppert vs. Gian van Veen

Danny Noppert is not at the top of his game, losing five of his last ten matches, but he is quite consistent and he should throw something like a mid-90 average. He has only lost one of his seven second round matches on the Euro Tour this year.

Van Veen finally got his first Euro Tour win yesterday, a 6-5 win over Jermaine Wattimena. Hopefully that will settle his nerves as he wasn’t throwing quite as fluently as he usually does. It was still a 97 average and Wattimena did bring his A game. There is something about Van Veen that everyone who plays him seems to bring their A game. Van Veen has won six of his last ten senior level matches.

Van Veen Backed

Noppert is the 1.67 favourite and Van Veen 2.38. The money has been going down on the young Dutchman and his odds are getting a bit short. Noppert may not be at his best but he will be hard to beat. Van Veen has the game to do it but he still lacks experience on stage. On the floor he has beaten the likes of Chizzy, Cullen twice and Josh Rock twice, but he did looks nervous yesterday.

I would not be surprised to see van Veen win, but I think the value has gone here.

Saturday European Darts GP tip: No Bet

Damon Heta vs. Adam Smith-Neale

Smith-Neale beat Roman Benecky 6-5 yesterday. It wasn’t a great match with both players averaging under 89. Smith-Neale was good on the doubles and hit a 164 checkout and 110 to win the match. He has lost six of his last ten matches and seven saw sub 90 averages. He also had a couple of 97s, so his A game is competitive but we have to expect the heavy scoring Heta to be too good.

The Aussie has won seven of his last ten matches and all eight of his Euro Tour second round matches in 2023. He is a three time Euro Tour semi-finalist in 2023 and he has got the hang of it now.

Heta is the 1.22 favourite and only 1.62 giving up a -2.5 leg handicap. It is another match which just isn’t a great betting opportunity. Another no bet.

Saturday European Darts GP tip: No Bet

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Daryl Gurney

Superchin beat Dylan Slevin 6-3 yesterday and he played well enough after a bit of a slow start. He was 3-1 down and looked in trouble, but he found his game with winning legs of 14,15,18, 15 & 15 darts to win convincingly. He has won six of his last ten matches. However, he has only won one of his four second round matches on the Euro Tour this season.

Dirk is hard to call as he recovers from his knee injury. He has played 11 matches injured and won 6. He hasn’t hit a ton plus average in any of them and seven saw sub 94 averages. The edge has gone off his game, but he is not a basket case.

Their H2H record is 2-2 and it was Gurney who won their only match on the Euro Tour, a 6-3 win in ET11 last year. The odds are good enough to back The Chin.

Saturday European Darts GP tip:1 point Daryl Gurney to win @ 2.75 generally available

Coverage of this evening’s matches will be limited due to my work on the Monaco GP this weekend. There will be no coverage at all on Sunday.

-JamesPunt