World-Series Darts Finals Tips and Preview

It has been a while since the last major darts event, but the wait is over. The World-Series Darts Finals go ahead at Salzburg this weekend. Unlike in normal times none of the main qualifiers were played. This means the line up will consist of the top 8 ranked players and 16 more invitees. Our darts expert James Punt has run his eye over the field. Check out his World-Series Darts Finals Tips and in depth preview below..

World-Series Darts Finals Tips + Preview

Finals without any qualifying tournaments played. Strange times indeed.

The global shutdown meant that the usual World Series events in the USA, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia did not get played. The PDC have decided to play the finals with the top eight players in the world rankings as the seeded players. They are joined by the next four players in the world rankings, six players from the countries that would have hosted World Series events and four players who came through a qualifying tournament played last Friday.

Gary ‘the not flying’ Scotsman withdrew as he believes its not yet safe to travel, and he was replaced by Glen Durrant.

Fans To Return

The finals are being played in Salzburg, Austria and will feature real spectators. The wisdom of that choice is open to debate, but it may have some baring on the outcome.

We have almost gotten used to tournaments being played without a crowd and the lack of a load of mostly pissed people, many dressed as nuns, is no great loss in my book. However, some of the players would strongly disagree.

The players are performers as well as competitors. Some really thrive in the noisy environment, people cheering them on, or giving dogs abuse to an opponent. Whatever ‘atmosphere’ is created can have a baring on players performance, some more than others.

In the post covid ‘arenas’, otherwise known as the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, we have seen the World Matchplay, won by Dimitri van den Bergh, and the culmination of the Premier League. That saw the world number 1, Michael van Gerwen, failing to qualify for the play offs, for the first time.

Shock Results

The two ‘stage’ events played without a crowd have thrown up two big surprises. Dimitri van den Bergh is a fine player and always looked likely to win majors, but his form going into the World Matchplay, suggested that time was some way off. Ironically, Van den Bergh is a player who had always played better on the stage, in front of a crowd, than he ever did in the crowd less, floor tournaments.

Arguably the biggest talking point in darts in the lockdown era has been about the form, (or lack of it) of Michael van Gerwen. He returned to action with Summer Series of floor tournaments in July and that all went with the usual script. He won two of events but was pipped to the mini O.O.M. by Peter Wright. There were also a few unexpected defeats. He lost to Maik Kuivenhoven (a player whom MVG is yet to beat), he lost to Joe Murnan and he lost to Devon Peterson.

His next outing was in the World Matchplay. He was aiming for his second major title of the year, but he was far from convincing when beating Brendan Dolan in the first round. Against Simon Whitlock in the second round, he was thrashed 4-11. Whitlock played a very good match but MVG was remarkably poor. He looked very uncomfortable and was missing doubles by centimetres, not millimetres.

MVG Not Firing

Then it was time for the resumption of the Premier League. The League stage has basically been a MVG benefit tournament. He always wins the league stage never mind just qualifying for the finals. It was going to be a walk in the park, a procession.

The reality was that it was a car crash for Van Gerwen. The Dutch Dartist played ten matches and won just four, drew one and lost five. He suffered heavy defeats to Glen Durrant, Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Gary Anderson, and Daryl Gurney. There were some good performances in there as well, but he was consistently inconsistent. He lost his confidence and looked mortal. When there was a crucial double to hit, he missed. He lost the ability to do the right thing at the right time.

This week saw the players gather in Germany for the Autumn Series. It started well enough, MVG reached the semi-final of AS1 but lost to Peter Wright. A great match but he was simply outplayed by the better player. In AS2 he lost to Damon Heta in the second round, AS3 saw normal service resumed as MVG beat Mensur Suljovic 8-1 in the final.

AS4 was a different matter. Van Gerwen lost his third round match to Devon Petersen and lost it 0-6. He was very poor once again, averaging just 90. In the final tournament he played in fits and starts before losing 3-6 to Jose de Sousa in the quarter final. That meant the O.O.M. went to Gerwyn Price.

Doubts Creeping In

In the Covid era, MVG has played 55 and won 41, a 74.5% win rate. That is still a very high win rate and makes him the favourite to win this weekend. However, it is the manner of his defeats that is more interesting. Van Gerwen looks to have doubts about himself. He doesn’t fully trust that he can do it. He even took to ditching his new Winmau darts, which he won the UK Open with, and used his old QMax darts that he had used for many years. That didn’t make any difference. He was still looking nervous, having doubts.

On current form who is the best player in the world? The world rankings tell us it is Van Gerwen but there are plenty of people who will argue that it is Gerwyn Price. There are plenty that will argue that it is Peter Wright and there are plenty who will argue that it still is Michael van Gerwen. What everyone should agree is that at this moment in time, it is open to debate, and that hasn’t been the case for years.

Will the return of a live audience be the part of the jig saw puzzle that makes MVG click? It might, but I doubt it. Too much damage has been done. His confidence has been dented and dented badly. There is also the fact that his aura of invincibility has been dented. As more and more different players beat him, more and more players think that ‘if so and so beat him, so can I’. Inspiration by association.

Iceman Happy To See Return Of Crowds

Van Gerwen isn’t the only player who has missed the crowds. Gerwyn Price has been very honest and says that he struggles to get motivated without a crowd. On the evidence of this week, he is wrong. He won two of the Autumn Series tournaments this week. He has won eight floor events but just five stage tournaments. OK he will have played more floor events, but clearly, he can play with or without a crowd. However, if he thinks he plays better with a crowd, then he might very well do just that. If so, watch out.

Price is a bit of a horses for courses player. He has won two major titles, the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts and the 2019 Grand Slam of Darts. The Iceman won the 2018 International Darts Open on the European tour and won the 2019 International Darts Open. He is also a form player. This week was not the first time he has won back to back players championship events. He won PC 5&6 last year. When he is in form, he is a player to follow.

In Form

This year he has reached six players championship finals and won three. He won the only European Tour event of the year in Belgium, and he reached the final of the UK Open.

Price wasn’t at his best in the premier league, but he never has been. He lost in the first round of the World Matchplay and for a while, without the crowds, his form was not his best. This week he has played himself right back into top gear. His covid era record shows a win rate of 73%, very close to that of MVG. If he can find an extra gear thanks to having an audience, then he probably wins this weekend.

Price is in the fourth quarter of the draw and it looks to be the toughest. He will face the winner of the Van der Voort vs. Cullen match, and both those players are in good form. Nathan Aspinall is likely to be his quarter final opponent and then probably Peter Wright or Daryl Gurney in the semi.

Tough Draw

Peter Wright won the first of the Autumn Series events this week but after that, while he scored well, he didn’t get beyond the fourth round. He averaged 97 and won 16 of his 20 matches, but nowadays, that’s a bit below par for Wright. His covid era form is very good with a win rate of 79.6%.

Wright, like Price, is in the much tougher bottom half of the draw. The seeds are Wright, Gurney, Price and Aspinall. Of those, only Daryl Gurney is in questionable form.

Michael van Gerwen is in the top half of the draw and the other seeds are Rob Cross, Michael Smith and James Wade. Cross and Smith are bang out of form and Wade, while playing himself into some decent form this week, hasn’t been at the business end of a TV tournament since the semi-final of last year’s Premier League.

Van Gerwen is not at his best, but the draw, as so often, has been kind to him. He wouldn’t fancy facing Glen Durrant in the second round, although he did finally beat him in the Autumn Series this week. However, his chances of winning the title are helped by the draw.

World-Series Darts Finals Tips: Interesting Outsiders

If you are looking for a bigger priced player, then the top half of the draw is the place to look. The unseeded players have a chance of a good run. The winner of Durrant vs. Van den Bergh will have first crack at MVG and that is when he is most vulnerable.

Glen Durrant was frustrated with his performances in the Autumn Series. He was his usual consistent best scoring wise, averaging 97, but he only won 12 of 17 matches. This is a short duration tournament, but he would still need to win five in a row, and I am not convinced he can do that against top flight players.

Van den Bergh won his first major title out of the blue in the World Matchplay. Back on a stage with a crowd, we could see further improvement, but it must be said he was disappointing in the Autumn Series. He averaged just 89, winning seven of his twelve matches.

Ratajski Could Go Well

Krzysztof Ratajski was having a fairly quiet Autumn Series until the final day when he reached the final, losing 5-8 to Gerwyn Price. He reached the quarter final on day one, losing that to MVG. The Pole had a couple of first round exits and he was lacking consistency. He does have a great opportunity to have a good run. If he can beat the only Austrian in the field, Mensur Suljovic in the first round, he would face the out of form Michael Smith in the second and then the winner of the Beaton, Whitlock or Cross group. That is well within his ability.

Ratajski faces the home favourite, Mensur Suljovic, in the first round. He is a hero in Austria and despite him living in Vienna rather than Salzburg, he will have the crowd on his side. His form in this week’s Autumn Series was OK, winning fourteen of his nineteen matches but his scoring was not great, averaging just 91. That isn’t good enough to win TV titles these days. Suljovic has won on home soil before of course, the 2019 Austrian Darts Championship, but he is not quite the force he was a couple of years ago.

The Machine Looks Overpriced

Perhaps the best value in the top half of the draw is James Wade. He has been flying under the radar recently but there are bits of form in his game that suggest that he could get a good result this weekend. He had a solid if unspectacular Autumn Series, winning twelve of his seventeen matches, averaging a solid 96.2.

The Mahchine won Summer Series 4 in July and he was in decent form before the shut down. He has been struggling for consistency for a while so to see him play five tournaments this week and average no lower than 95 was eye catching. He is not a heavy scorer and his real strength is consistency, nagging away, grinding out wins.

Wade will face the winner of the Fallon Sherrock vs. Jeff Smith match and that has to be considered a good draw. He would then face the winner of the Durrant, Van den Bergh, MVG group, which is tougher but not impossible.

Cullen Could Suprise

In the bottom half of the draw there is one unseeded player who is in form. Joe Cullen. Cullen was impressively consistent in the Autumn Series, averaged 96 and won fifteen of his twenty matches. He was runner up to Damon Heta in AS2, beating Gerwyn Price 6-5 in the quarter final and averaging 103 in the process. He then beat Nathan Aspinall in the semi-final. Those two players are the seeded players in his quarter of the draw, so he can’t be dismissed at big odds.

Cullen has played his best stuff on the Euro tour and just playing outside of the UK seems to improve his game. He won a Development Tour title in Austria back in 2011 and he will be a dangerous opponent this week. He is not a prolific winner of titles and he has a poor draw, but he makes some appeal, if only on a back to lay basis.

Outright Selections

World-Series Darts Finals Tips: 2 points Gerwyn Price to win @ 8.00 with Skybet

World-Series Darts Finals Tips: 1 point e/w James Wade to win @ 41.00 with Skybet, Boylesports

Darts World Series Finals Tips: 0.5 point e/w Krzysztof Ratajski to win @ 34.00 with Skybet, Betfair, Paddy Power, Betvictor

World-Series Darts Finals Tips: 0.5 point e/w Joe Cullen @ 101.00 with William Hill, Boyle Sports

Individual match betting with be available on the TXODDS app.

-JamesPunt