The busy period of darts continues this weekend with the penultimate event on the European Tour, the International Darts Open, which takes place in Riesa. A number of big names have given this tournament the swerve with a sustained spell in Dublin on the horizon so we should get a very competitive competition.
Recent Winners
2016 – Mensur Suljovic
2015 – Michael Smith
The Format
We all know the format of these events by now but for any newcomers the 16 seeds are joined by the 16 qualifiers for the last 32 of the tournament on Saturday. The event concludes from the last 16 down to the champion on Sunday with every match from start to finish being the best of 11 legs.
Top Half
Michael van Gerwen is absent this week which means that Peter Wright is the number one seed and in this half. There are some big names among the seeds opposing him though. Michael Smith, Daryl Gurney and Rob Cross lead the young brigade from this part of the draw while Dave Chisnall, Cristo Reyes, Jelle Klaasen and Benito van de Pas will be eyeing up big weeks.
Darren Webster is probably the pick of the qualifiers in the top half of the draw although Josh Payne might have something to say about that. Brendan Dolan, Chris Quantock, Ronny Huybrechts, Peter Jacques, Dennis Nilsson and Ron Muelenkamp make up the names doing battle in this half of the draw.
Bottom Half
The new Champions League of Darts winner Mensur Suljovic heads the bottom half of the draw. In terms of seeds he will meet Simon Whitlock, Alan Norris, Kim Huybrechts, Ian White, Joe Cullen, Gerwyn Price and Mervyn King so you would have to say this is an opportunity for the defending champion to go deep.
Kyle Anderson is the leading qualifier in this part of the draw although the home crowds will be full of support for Max Hopp. Keegan Brown is very competent and could fancy his chances this week too. Richie Corner, William O’Connor, Christian Kist, Steve Lennon and John Michael completes what has to be called a wide open half of the draw.
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Betting
I’m going with just the one bet this week. This draw is wide open but van Gerwen’s absence is reflected in the prices where there are plenty of short things at the head of the market so finding value is going to be difficult. With that in mind we need to play the form book rather than the market.
One man in great form is Kyle Anderson. He won a tour event last month and then went and won one of the World Series events a couple of weeks later. He has won plenty of matches in the European Tour this month but run into players like van Gerwen. Each win has seen him average over a ton and he followed that up with another win and 100+ average on Friday night.
You have to respect the likes of Peter Wright and Mensur Suljovic this weekend but they might feel the pressure to succeed in MVGs absence whereas Anderson can almost free-roll his way through the draw. 18/1 is a fair price on a man carrying his form.
Tips
Back K.Anderson to win International Darts Open (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 19.00 with Betfred (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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