Sunday International Darts Open Tips

So, we head into the final day of this Euro Tour event and the good news is that all three of our ante post bets are still standing in the last 16. Hopefully one of them can get it done and you can check out James Punt’s Sunday International Darts Open tips below.

Michael van Gerwen vs. Jose de Sousa

MVG dodged a bullet against Matt Campbell last night. He played very well, averaged 102 and hit six 180s, but Campbell still had match darts which he missed.

De Sousa had a facile 6-0 win over Lee Evans who went from averaging 99.9 when beating Kim Huybrechts in the first round, to 78.0 against De Sousa. It has been a nice little earner for The Special One who was supposed to have started in the first round, got elevated to a second round start as a seed, his opponent doesn’t turn up and he walks into the third round and £4000.

It is very likely that this is as far as he goes. MVG is 9-3 in their H2Hs and he has won their last four in a row. De Sousa has not been in good form for a while and while MVG is not quite at his best, he should be too good for Jose.

He is the 1.29 favourite and De Sousa 3.80. It is a no bet for me.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: No Bet

Peter Wright vs. Alan Soutar

An all Scottish tie between two players not at the top of their game. There are signs that Wright is heading back to form, he averaged 97.3 in his 6-3 win over Jose Justicia, having come from 0-2 down. Soutar had an easy 6-2 win over Joe Cullen, but The Rockstar was not at the races and Soutar only averaged 86.5 himself.

Their H2H record is 3-3 with Wright winning their last three. All but their first match (6-2) were close affairs and three required a deciding leg. It is hard to see this being another close one as Soutar is not playing well. He needs Wright to have another off day, there have been plenty recently, and even that might not be enough. Soutar has averaged less than 90 in seven of his last ten and only two of his last eight matches did he play well enough to give Wright a game.

Wright is the 1.44 favourite and Soutar 2.90. If Wright plays like he did last night, he wins and should do quite easily, but is comeback is only in its early stages and he is not quite banker material. Soutar has been fairly consistent in his mediocrity, but there is around a one in five chance that he plays his A game. It is another match that makes zero appeal betting wise.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: No Bet

Dave Chisnall vs. Jonny Clayton

Chizzy found his scoring boots again, beating Andrew Gilding 6-2 and averaging 100. He has won seven of his last ten matches and hit six ton plus averages. He has been banging in big numbers for a while now, ten ton plus averages from his last fourteen matches. It was only last weekend, when he was one of our outright selections, where he played poorly, with a couple of sub 93 averages.

Jonny Clayton has a bit more of a spring in his step after winning Thursdays Premier League. He followed that up with a 6-4 win over Brian Raman yesterday. It was not a great performance and he started very slowly, missing doubles and he made it much harder work than it should have been. He has won six of his last ten matches, three of them 6-4 and three 6-5. He certainly has not been in dominant form.

Ferret The Narrow Fav

Clayton is the very marginal favourite at 1.95 with Chisnall 2.00, but most firms can’t split them. The H2H record is 11-4 to Chisnall and he won their last match, a 7-5 win the semi-final if the opening Euro Tour event of the season. Clayton beat Chisnall 6-1 in players championship 1.

I would have Chisnall as the favourite here. Clayton is not impressing me, winning on Thursday or not. Chisnall has been arguably the best player of the season, except when I put money on him, so this might be the kiss of death.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: 1 point Dave Chisnall to win @ 2.00 with Hills

Nathan Aspinall vs. Martin Schindler

Aspinall looked good in his 6-2 win over Mario Vandenbogaerde yesterday. He was helped by Mario having lost his doubling radar (something that blighted a host of our bets yesterday), but The Asp averaged 96.5 and it was a good all-round performance with three maximums and a checkout rate of 60%.

Schindler beat Barney 6-4 in a very ordinary sort of match. He only averaged 92 but RVB wasn’t on his game. Schindler, like Aspinall, has won five of his last ten matches. His scoring has been on the light side and half his matches have seen checkout rates of under 30%. Aspinall has been playing better and most of his matches have been at Premier League level.

Their H2H record is 5-1 to Aspinall but their last match was back in 2019.

Aspinall is the 1.53 favourite with Schindler 2.75. That looks about right. I’ll be happy just to see Aspinall progress to the evening session. No bet.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: No Bet

Damon Heta vs. Niko Springer

Last weekend the German fans had Riccardo Pietreczko to cheer on the final day, this weekend it is another un-seeded player, Niko Springer. He beat Van den Bergh 6-1 yesterday. Dimitri was poor but Springer played well enough. He hit three 180s and across his four Euro Tour matches played this season he has hit 19 at a rate of 0.57 per leg. That does make him a dangerous opponent.

Damon Heta finally put in a proper performance in his 6-3 win over Brendan Dolan, ending his four match losing run against The History Maker. He averaged 97.8 and hit two maximums. Over his six Euro Tour matches in 2023, Heta has hit 18 maximums at a rate of 0.35.

Heta is the 1.57 favourite with Springer a 2.63 shot. There is some value in Springer’s odds. Heta has not been a winning machine in 2023, but he has won seven of his last ten, so he may be finding some better form. I will persevere with the 180 betting and hope for once that the players can actually hit them when the money is down.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: 1 point over 5.50 180s @ 2.15 with Ladbrokes

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Danny Noppert

The Aubergenius’ run of good form continued with a 6-3 win over Gabriel Clemens last night. It was a 97 average and it was not like Clemens was poor, he just wasn’t as good. Dirk has won seven of his last ten matches and his scoring is very consistently in the high 90s. His lowest average in his last ten was 94.5 and the highest 104.1. He is the biggest 180 hitter in the business and hard to beat.

Danny Noppert beat Liam Maendl-Lawrence, the young German qualifier, 6-5. It wasn’t a great display, he nearly lost and only averaged 90.7. That may have been down to the very slow pace of the German which did seem to unsettle even the steady paced Noppert. He has won six of his last ten matches and lacks the consistency of Dirk, but his A game is right up there and he is a dangerous opponent.

Their H2H record is 6-4 to Noppert but Dirk has won their last two, and won them easily, 6-2 and 10-3.

Dirk is the 1.73 favourite with Noppert 2.20. There is just enough value in Van Duijvenbode’s odds.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: 1 point Dirk van Duivenbode to win @ 1.73 with Hills

Rob Cross vs. Josh Rock

A match between two stable mates and practice partners. Not my cup of tea. Cross was far too good when beating Steve Lennon 6-3 yesterday. He missed 16 doubles and that is a concern going into this match. Half of his last ten matches have seen sub 30% checkout rates which helps explain why Cross isn’t winning titles.

Rock was far from impressive in his 6-4 win over Florian Hempel. He too was missing on the outer ring with 17 missed doubles. That is two matches in a row where his doubling has been poor.

Two pals who are missing doubles does not whet my whistle. No bet.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: No Bet

Mike de Decker vs. Gerwyn Price

Gerwyn Price hit another ton plus average in his 6-3 win over Ross Smith. He has played seven Euro Tour matches and has averaged over a ton in all but one. Ironically that was a 96 in last weekend’s final, which he won.

Mike de Decker had a surprisingly easy 6-1 win over Michael Smith last night. He has won seven of his last ten matches but lacks the consistency of performance shown by Price, not many do, if any. His A game is good enough to give Price plenty to think about, but it will have to be his A game.

Their H2H record is 4-0 to Price. Two matches required a deciding leg, the other two, fairly comfortable wins for the Welshman.

Price is the 1.29 favourite and his just so hard to oppose at the moment. He is in his best form, especially in Europe, and he should be able to justify his short odds.

We have him to win the title and hopefully he keeps his form up as he really does look like he can go all the way. No bet.

Sunday International Darts Open Tip: No bet

-JamesPunt