UK Open Saturday Afternoon Preview and Tips – JP
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Preview
James Punt fired in four fabulous winners on Friday night and he is hungry for more today. Check out his UK Open Saturday Afternoon preview and tips below.
Danny Noppert vs. Devon Petersen
These two have only met once and that was in a euro tour semi-final which Petersen won and then went on to take the title. Obviously, that was peak Petersen, and he lost his way after that, losing form and becoming something of an also ran. However recent weeks have seen a return to form, not as good as he was in 2020, but he has hit three 98 averages, a 96 and a 95 from his last seven matches. He only won three of them, but that itself is a clear uptick.
Danny Noppert is well rested after taking two months out. He beat Ryan Miekle 10-3 yesterday, averaging 97 and he seems to be back to the good form he was showing in late 2021.
A month ago, and this would have been a stick-on win for Noppert, but now he is going to have to work for it. Petersen is hungry, playing better and once the confidence returns, he will be dangerous again, but he hasn’t won back-to-back matches since last August and they were vs. Chas Barstow and Wayne Jones. Noppert will be a much tougher task over the best of 19 legs. At the moment, Noppert is the better player, and he is well motivated after becoming a first time dad.
Noppert is the 1.36 favourite but I’ll take him on the handicap
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tips: 1 point Danny Noppert to win -2.5 legs @ 1.75 with Ladbrokes
Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Ryan Searle
Our number two selection to win, Van den Bergh is having to do it the hard way. He got drawn against Daryl Gurney in round 4 and now Ryan Searle in the 5th. He dealt well with Superchin, winning 10-2 and averaging 103.9. Gurney was averaging over a ton for much of the match and it was a quality performance by Dimitri.
Searle has his army of followers in attendance and will be the crowd favourite. He beat Adrian Lewis 10-7 having been 1-5 at one point. It was only a 92.3 average in the end, but it was a good win none the less. Searle leads the H2H stats 5-2, but Gurney had a 6-2 record and that was irrelevant.
Van den Bergh is playing better right now, winning eight of his last ten and scoring well. Searle has only won five of his last ten and is not at his best, but capable of big scoring if he gets going.
Van den Bergh is the 1.62 favourite, Searle 2.60. Not much in the way of value there. Both are big 180 hitters, Dimitri is second only to Dirk van Duijvenbode in 180s per leg, but over 9.5 maximums at 1.85 doesn’t look much value either. Hopefully Van den Bergh gets the job done, and a less stressful draw for the next round.
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tips: No Bet
Michael Smith vs. Gabriel Clemens
Smith followed up his first premier league points with a 10-7 win over Chris Dobey in round 4. He averaged 99 and was never seriously bothered by Dobey.
Smith has a 3-1 H2H record over Clemens and is playing better. He has won five of his last ten matches, which is not good, but his scoring is usually in a different league to Clemens. The German has lost six of his last ten matches and is far from his best.
Smith is the 1.30 favourite, with Clemens 4.33. I can see this being a bit of a stroll for Bully Boy.
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tips: 1 point Smith to win -3.5 legs @ 2.23 with Unibet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Damon Heta
Another of our outright selections to get a tough draw. They met three weeks ago and that match ended as 7-4 win for Heta, but overall their H2H record is 8-3 to MVG.
Van Gerwen beat Gary Anderson 10-7 last night. It wasn’t a great performance with both players averaging 93. If MVG plays like that he will likely lose to the in-form Heta. The Aussie averaged 96.6 when beating Andy Boulton 10-5. Heta is averaging 100.3 in 2022 and he will have to play around that level, or hope that Van Gerwen has one of those games were he doesn’t take his chances.
MVG is the 1.40 favourite and Heta 3.50. There is some value on Heta, but I’ll sit this one out and hope he can make it into the next round.
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tips: No Bet
Jonny Clayton vs. Jose De Sousa
Nine times these two met in 2021 and Clayton won seven. Overall he is 8-3 up on De Sousa. The Ferret has won six of his last ten matches, so not at his best, but his B game is a competitive one.
De Sousa has also won six of his last ten and he too is not in great form. He can still hit the high notes but there are too many low scoring matches, such as his 91 average to beat Steve West 10-7 yesterday.
Clayton is the 1.50 favourite and De Sousa 2.75. Given neither are totally reliable at the moment, this is a match I will skip.
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tips: No Bet
Peter Wright vs. Simon Whitlock
Beware the injured darter? Maybe. Wright is suffering with a recurrence of his gallstone problems of a few years ago. He seriously considered pulling out last night as he had been in a lot of pain. He may not have got much sleep last night, but despite everything, he still beat Joe Cullen 10-6 yesterday and averaged 97.1.
Simon Whitlock beat Maik Kuivenhoven 10-9 averaging 93.3. He has won just five of his last ten and isn’t scoring well. The Wizard beat Wright 10-8 at the Masters in late January, the last time he won back-to-back matches. Overall, their H2H record is 22-13 to Wright and it is 4-4 in 2020-2022.
Clearly Whitlock can bother Wright and if Wright is in discomfort or overly tired, The Wizard might just pull off another ‘shock’. If Wright is feeling better, then he should wipe the floor with the Aussie.
Whitlock is 4.10 to win, a backable price if Wright was fit given their H2H record. If Wright is crocked, then it’s a great price.
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tips: 1 point Simon Whitlock to win @ 4.10 with Unibet
Ron Meulenkamp vs. James Wade
Ron the Bomb tweeted that he was coming here with a ‘new attitude’ and he hit a 100 average in a 6-2 win over Danny Baggish in the third round before squeaking past Krzysztof Kciuk 10-9 in the fifth. The Pole has developed a bit of a habit of losing deciders. Meulenkamp has won five of his last ten matches and he can’t be said to be in good form, but if he is feeling more positive, it can only help. He is 2-1 against Wade but two matches were in 2014. Ron won their only match since then, a 6-3 win last November.
James Wade beat Steve Lennon 10-6 last night. That sounds comfortable, but Lennon averaged 105.5 and was in the hundred and teens for most of the match. Wade was never that bothered and kept him at arm’s length for the whole match. It was a 104 average for Wade in the end and he has won six of his last ten. Wade has not been in great form this year, with a win rate of 53%. He is prone to having an off game at any time and is hard to trust with hard cash.
Wade is the unbackable 1.27 favourite, Meulenkamp 4.33. There is the temptation to have a go with Meulenkamp at the odds, but I haven’t seen enough of his ‘new attitude’ to have any great confidence. No bet.
UK Open Saturday Afternoon Tips: No Bet
Gerwyn Price vs. Jamie Hughes
A tough draw for Yozza. Price has a 6-2 H2H record, with Hughes’ last win back in 2019. Price beat Ratajski 10-5 last night, averaging 98 and he has won nine of his last ten.
Hughes beat Madars Razma 6-1 in the third round and Adam Gawlas 10-5 to make it seven wins from ten and his game is heading in the right direction. However, it is still some way from where Price resides.
The Iceman is 1.15 to win, Hughes 6.50. I can’t see any reason why Price loses this. Hughes does have a very good A game but we haven’t seen it since last November, While Price is averaging 100.12 in 2022.
