The European Tour is back on the darts scene this weekend with a brand new tournament in Copenhagen when the Danish Darts Open takes place. The sport is being taken to a new country this weekend which gives this particular event a bit more of a profile.
Many of the leading lights in the game have turned up to support the tournament which is a good thing and should ensure we get some top quality arrers tossing over the course of the competition particularly with spots in the European Championship up for grabs.
The Format
Given that this is the eighth European Tour event of the year the format should be coming more naturally now but for those who are new the 16 seeded players face 16 qualifiers in the last 32 on Saturday with the winners of them competing in the last 16 on Sunday afternoon. Those two rounds are over the best of 11 legs, as are the quarter finals on Sunday evening. The semi-finals in the same session move up to the best of 13 before the title is decided late on Sunday over the best of 15 legs.
Top Half
The halves have been flipped this week which means that number two seed Michael Smith is the leading light in the top half in terms of the seeds. Peter Wright is the third seed and is in this quarter while Mensur Suljovic and James Wade are other top names among the seeds. There could be a chance for the other four seeds to take advantage of a soft draw. They are Gerwyn Price, Darren Webster, Joe Cullen and Stephen Bunting.
The runner up in Gibraltar, Adrian Lewis, heads the qualifiers in this part of the draw while Cristo Reyes is another who will be eyeing up a deep run in the event. Jelle Klaasen is a recognisable face among the unseeded players here too while Peter Jacques, Ryan Joyce, Barry Lynn, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez and Madars Razma will hope for big weekends.
Bottom Half
This is where the world number one and dominant force that is Michael van Gerwen is housed this weekend. He is the number one seed and is seeded to meet world champion Rob Cross in the semi-final while Daryl Gurney will be out to prove his worth this weekend. There is some depth in the seeds in this part of the draw with Ian White, Simon Whitlock, Jonny Clayton, Mervyn King and John Henderson all capable of beating anyone on their day.
Max Hopp is probably the pick of the qualifiers in the bottom half of the draw although the likes of Steve Beaton, Steve West and Brendan Dolan might have something to say about that. Scott Taylor, Ricky Evans, Jermaine Wattimena and Darius Labanauskas make up the remainder of the draw this weekend.
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Betting
I’ll go with a couple of outrights this weekend. With Michael van Gerwen in the bottom half of the draw both my bets come in the top half where I like two men. Adrian Lewis was the runner up to van Gerwen in Gibraltar earlier in the month and at 28/1 he’s decent value to follow that up in style. He has a tough encounter with Michael Smith on Saturday but if he comes through that the draw should open right up for another decent run for Jackpot. Lewis will be desperate to get his top 16 spot back for Blackpool and he needs a good run here to help that quest. He’s my main bet this weekend.
I can’t avoid a cheeky punt on Darren Webster who is seeded in the top quarter this weekend. Peter Wright could await him in the quarter final but there is every chance that the Norfolk man can get that far and from there on in you just never know in these events. Webster has been pottering along well enough this season but with Blackpool on the horizon the practice levels will be increasing and Webster may just get his reward for that with a lengthy run in Denmark.
Tips
Back A.Lewis to win Danish Darts Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Ladbrokes (1/3 1-2)
Back him here:
Back D.Webster to win Danish Darts Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Bet365 (1/2 1-2)
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