Saturday World Series Darts Finals Preview

James Punt landed another trio of winners last night and was very close to landing more. Kuivenhoven (2.00) and King (2.38) both obliged, the latter in spectacular fashion. Dirk Van Duijvenbode also landed our -1.5 legs bet at 1.67. Lets hope for more success in Round 2. Saturday World Series Darts Finals preview and tips are below.

Madars Razma vs. Merv King

The King set a new WSOD record with a 115 average when thrashing James Wade 6-0 last night and he now faces last week’s double nine dart hitting Latvian, Madars Razma. If King keeps that sort of form up, Razma will need a few nine darters to keep up. Their H2H record is 2-0 to Razma but they have never met on stage before. King has won seven of his last ten, as has Razma.

It is highly unlikely King will be able to repeat the same performance as he did last night. If he could turn that on at will, he would have won a televised title before. At last week’s Player’s championship events, King opened up with a 102 average vs. Lisa Ashton and followed it up with an 89. In his eleven matches last week, King hit seven sub 90 averages, so last night’s huge average was somewhat out of the blue. That said, he hit three ton plus averages in the qualifier for this event last Monday.

Effective Player

Razma is not a heavy scorer, and his seasonal average is just 90 but he is still an effective player and won nine of his thirteen matches last week. He reached the semi-final of PC 26 despite less than stellar scoring. He is a low scorer, but he hit two nine darters, go figure that one out! Razma is the 3.40 underdog here, largely in part to King’s performance last night. King is the 1.40 favourite but is that an overreaction to his 115 last night?

King deserves to be favourite but what odds would he be if he had averaged 95 and beaten Wade 6-4? 1.75? Bearing in mind how many sub-90’s he hit last week, there is no guarantee that King stands up tonight and hits a ton plus. He might suffer a bit of mental let down, finding it hard to repeat one great performance with another.

Razma will be feeling confident about his game after winning plenty of matches last week, hitting two nine darters and he has beaten King in their only two previous matches. It may be being contrary, but I am going for the Latvian.

Saturday World Series Darts Finals Tip: 1 point Madars Razma to win @ 3.40 with Betvictor, BET365

Gary Anderson vs. Niels Zonneveld

A real A to Z of darts. The veteran vs. the novice. A Scotsman vs. a Dutchman. The latter may be important.

The home crowd were very noisy last night, they cheered home four Dutch players, but they were too pissed to be able to get behind Danny Noppert in the last match. Zonneveld will have home advantage tonight and he can feed off that.

Gary Anderson has only won one of his opening matches in this competition, falling at the first fence four times out of five. His form last week was poor, winning just three matches and he has lost six of his last ten. His win rate in 2021 is just 53.6%, down from 68.6% last year. That is only slightly better than 2019 when he only played 57 matches due to a back injury. Motivation is always an issue for Anderson. He has always been more of a major’s man, not really bothered with these non-ranking tournaments, but nowadays it seems he gets up for the World Championship and that’s about it.

No Great Shakes Last Night

Zonneveld wasn’t any great shakes last night, averaging 88.7, he was lucky that Chisnall was equally as poor, and he was propelled by the crowd into this second round. If he can lift his game, he has some sort of chance, but his form isn’t great and Anderson, if he can be arsed, should win. Zonneveld only won two of his player’s championship matches last week, but he did win four matches to qualify for this and played well in those.

Anderson is the 1.40 favourite for this match, Zonneveld 3.25. It is hard to get enthusiastic about either player, but it is still a first to six format which gives the underdog a puncher’s chance. At the odds, and with home advantage looking quite a big deal, it is worth taking a punt on Zonneveld and hope that he finds his qualifying form, or Anderson plays like he did in this in 2019 when he averaged just 71 against Danny Noppert.

Saturday World Series Darts Finals Tip: 1 point Niels Zonneveld to win @ 3.25 with Ladbrokes

Jonny Clayton vs. Vincent van der Voort

Van der Voort beat a very disappointing Nathan Aspinall 6-3 last night. The Asp just didn’t show up and Van der Voort had the match handed to him on a plate. He is good enough to take those chances and the crowd helped him out. I suspect he will face a much stiffer test tonight.

Jonny Clayton, 2021 Premier League winner, has won eight of last ten matches and was last seen lifting the World Grand Prix trophy, his fifth title of the year. He is arguably the best player in the world right now.

Van der Voort is a journeyman pro who has enjoyed a long career by being quite good. He wins around 60% of his matches and has done for years. He has won five titles in eleven years, the last back in 2014. Big Vinny has a 4-4 H2H record vs. Clayton but The Ferret has won both their matches in 2021, 6-3 and 7-5. Most of their past form is before Clayton transformed into an elite player.

Van der Voort will be no push over and the crowd will be right behind him, but it is likely he will need his A game to be just competitive. If Clayton can get an early break, he can shut the crowd up and get the job done before the real business happens tomorrow.

Van der Voort played some good stuff last week and like Clayton, he has won eight of his last ten matches. Clayton to win but it could be a fairly close affair. The market makes Clayton the 1.36 favourite with Vincent 3.40. I can’t argue with those.

Saturday World Series Darts Finals Tip: 0.5 point Clayton to win 6-4 @ 6.00 generally available

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Jose de Sousa

The Special One looked more like his old self last night. He has gone back to wearing his glasses which helps him see better and he is back to full fitness. Hitting form at just the right time. He beat the in-form Danny Noppert 6-2 and Noppert played well, averaging 97 but he was just out played by De Sousa, who averaged 103.8.

We have backed Van den Bergh outright and this is a big test for him against his one-time housemate and management stable cohort. Their H2H record shows a 6-2 lead to De Sousa, and they have met no less than seven times in 2021 with De Sousa winning five. Dimitri has won two of the last three and while only one of their past matches has gone to a decider, the scoring in their matches is usually top notch.

Belter On The Cards

Both players have won seven of their last ten matches and with De Sousa restored to full health, this could be a belter. They are both in the top 6 for seasonal averages. They are ranked first and second for 180’s per leg over the last twelve months.

We came up one shy in both the 180 bets last night, but surely we will see plenty tonight. In their seven matches this year they have hit 49 across 71 legs, a rate of 0.69 per leg. A 6-2 score line gives 5.5 at that rate, 6-4 gives 6.9.

However, De Sousa, the better of the two at 180’s, has been below par recently and his maximum hitting dropped off as a result. He only hit five in their last three matches at a rate of 0.125. Back to something like 100%, I expect De Sousa to be around the 0.30 per leg again. He hit four last night at 0.50 against Noppert. Let the maximums rain down.

Saturday World Series Darts Finals Tips: 2 points over 6.5 180’s @ 2.10 with SpreadEx

Fallon Sherrock vs. Krzysztof Ratajski

The Polish Eagle took his time to get going against Gabriel Clemens last night but won 6-3 in the end. His doubling was suspect at times, but he was getting to a finish well enough.

On paper this should be over fairly sharpish, but we have found with Sherrock, that she can lift her game on the big stage, and she will have to once again. Her seasonal average is 12.1 points shy of Ratajski’s and while she can get scores above a ton, it is unusual.

Her greatest asset will be the crowd. She will be cheered to the rafters, Ratajski will be made as welcome as a leper. If Sherrock can get off to a good start, the crowd will go nuts and Ratajski will be under all sorts of pressure. If he can get off to a strong start, go two or three up, he shuts down the crowd and then is should be business as usual. Ratajski must not give her the time of day. He has played Lisa Ashton twice, he won both but made a real meal of beating her 5-4 in last year’s Grand Slam. He was cruising but his doubling suddenly went AWOL and it very nearly ended in defeat.

Playing a woman still unsettles some of the men and Ratajski must get his head down and play the board. He is the 1.22 favourite, and any value must be with Sherrock at 4.50. However, we are on Ratajski for the tournament and hopefully he just gets the job done here. No bet.

Peter Wright vs. Kim Huybrechts

Will the real Peter Wright turn up tonight? He will need to, or he’ll be out early. Last week Wright played 11 and won 7. There were two ton plus averages but three sub-90’s, and Wright was struggling to beat some fairly ordinary players. His game isn’t all there at the moment.

Huybrechts beat Michael Smith 6-3 last night. He averaged 98.4 and while it was a bit nip and tuck to start with, he eventually hit Smith with enough punches that his head dropped and once Smith drops his head, the game is up. It was a good performance, and The Hurricane has won seven of his last ten matches. His consistency could be better, but he is a dangerous enough opponent at the moment.

Peter Wright has a 20-11 H2H record with Huybrechts. They have not played for a year and a half, a 6-0 win for Kim, and their form is largely very old.

This is not a good betting match. Huybrechts is playing well but is still too inconsistent and while Wright has not been at his best, his B game is usually enough for Huybrechts. Wright is the 1.44 favourite and drifting, Huybrechts a shortening 3.00. No bet for me.

Gerwyn Price vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode

This should be good. The Aubergenius is back to form, winning eight of his last ten and his game looks in good nick. He beat Jeffery de Zwaan 6-2 in a largely one-sided match, but he stuck to the task and averaged 99.5. He will need that and maybe more tonight.

Price is 11-1 against Van Duijvenbode but Dirk won their most recent match, 6-3 in a player’s championship in June. However, it has usually been one way traffic with Price winning fairly comfortably.

Why could this be any different? It is a home tie for Van Duijvenbode and the crowd will be very partisan. Price is well used to that and can usually cope, so long at it not like the pathetic bunch at the recent Grand Prix. Whistling and calling out on throw is not on and hard for anyone to cope with.

I feel if Dirk is to have a chance, he needs to stay with Price, keep the crowd at full volume and put the pressure on the Welshman. Easier said than done.

Both players have won eight of their last ten matches and both are heavy hitters so it could be a great match, but I fancy Price to get back to winning ways against Van Duijvenbode. Price didn’t play last week but it is not like he has been a way for weeks.

Price is the 1.30 favourite with Van Duijvenbode at 4.00.

Saturday World Series Darts Finals Tip: 1 point Price to win -2.5 legs @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes

Michael van Gerwen vs. Maik Kuivenhoven

I suspect the hero’s welcome for MVG will be enough for him to forget he is 2-0 down to Kuivenhoven. Both were in floor events last year and both went to a deciding leg. If Kuivenhoven could take MVG to another decider than he would be worth a bet. Van Gerwen’s confidence isn’t what it once was and even a home crowd may not be enough it that situation.

Kuivenhoven is averaging 91 over the last 12 months, MVG 100 over the last three. The lesser of the two Dutchmen does have his moments and can hit big scores, but he is more likely to be sub 90 than ton plus. He averaged 88 against Henderson last night which was enough for a 6-2 win, but tonight he will not have the crowd behind him and with his lack of experience in the big, televised tournaments, he could get minced. His record against decent players in the majors is very poor and MVG will want to set out his stall for the day ahead.

Saturday World Series Darts Finals Tip: 1 point MVG to win -3.5 legs @ 2.20 with BET365

-JamesPunt