The final European Tour event of the season takes place this week as the best of the darting world head back onto the continent for the Gibraltar Darts Trophy. This is the last tournament that counts for qualification for the European Championship with five spots in that field still to be decided.
Michael van Gerwen won this title for the third time in four years 12 months ago and despite safely being through to the final stages of the European Championship he is here to defend the title. There are going to be some good stories this week I suspect.
Recent Winners
2018 – Michael van Gerwen
2017 – Michael Smith
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Michael van Gerwen
2014 – James Wade
2013 – Phil Taylor
The Format
We are using the same format as last season for these tournaments which means that the last 32 of the tournament is played over two sessions of action on Saturday, with the last 16 on Sunday afternoon and the quarter finals on Sunday night. They are all the best-of-11 legs with the semi-finals also on Sunday evening. They are the best-of-13 and then the final in the same session is the best-of-15 legs. The draw has been pre-determined and is played in a straight knockout format.
Top Half
Michael van Gerwen is the number one seed and that sees him in the top half of the draw this weekend. His draws in these things have been quite tough recently and that is no exception here. Some of the seeded players in his half are top quality. They are the UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall, Peter Wright, Mensur Suljovic, James Wade, Jonny Clayton, Dave Chisnall and Jermaine Wattimena, many of who will have their eyes on the title this weekend.
If that was not a strong enough section throw two of three of the qualifiers into the mix and it gets very competitive. Kim Huybrechts is probably the biggest name among them although his fellow Belgian player Dimitri Van den Bergh and Jeffrey de Zwaan aren’t too far behind. The Portuguese sensation who I suspect I’ll be writing a lot about between now and Christmas, Jose de Sousa, is also in this section. It is complete by Ryan Joyce, Dyson Parody, Wessel Nijman and Paul Rowley.
Bottom Half
Ian White remains the highest seed in the bottom half of the draw but we shouldn’t ignore many of the other players with a seeding by their name here in what looks like a very competitive section. Michael Smith is not yet in the main finals so he needs a big week in this half while Joe Cullen, Daryl Gurney and Glen Durrant can win any tournament they enter, as can Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price, who amazingly could meet in the last 16 such is the strength of this tournament. Krzysztof Ratajski is the other seeded player.
There are some decent qualifiers in this section as well and they have been placed very nicely in the draw to make it quite spicy. Chris Dobey might be the best of them but Danny Noppert is decent quality too, as is Steve Beaton on his day. Michael Rosenauer, Ritchie Edhouse, Carl Wilkinson, David Francis and Krzysztof Kcuik make up the remainder of the qualifiers in what is a fantastic draw to end the European Tour season.
Betting
This is a really tough draw to dissect and as such multiple betting opportunities are tough to find. I’m certainly staying away from that minefield of the top half where just about anyone can come through in that, and the bottom quarter looks like a tournament in itself as well so the best options come in the third quarter which looks like it could open right up.
Joe Cullen won the European Tour event prior to the last one and that gives me confidence in him. In fairness to him he made the last 16 the following week when the run of matches probably caught up with him when he was wiped out by Rob Cross but his section is very nice. Ian White is the main seed in his quarter but he could also be the only live danger with Michael Smith flattering to deceive and Krzysztof Ratajski not showing his best form on the stage. It will be hard from the semis in but this is top level darts. You’d expect that. At 50/1 he’s the sort of price I fancy could give us a nice run for a modest outlay.
Tips
Back J.Cullen to win Gibraltar Darts Trophy (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Betfred (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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