The new European Tour season gets underway in Germany this weekend when the inaugural Baltic Sea Darts Open takes place with 32 of the leading players in the game all looking to kick start their challenge for a place in the European Championship at the end of the year.
The majority of the stars have chosen to take part in this tournament so the European Tour is all set to kick off with a bang as the first of 13 events over the course of the year begins another season of European action.
The Format
We have the same format that was in use for the European Tour last year so the 16 seeds are joined by the 16 qualifiers in the last 32 over two sessions of action on Saturday while the last 16 is played on Sunday afternoon and the quarter finals on Sunday evening. They are all the best of 11 legs while the semi-finals, also on Sunday evening, are the best of 13 legs and the winner will be determined in the Sunday evening final over the best of 15 legs.
Top Half
The seeding list for this tournament is based on the European Tour rankings from last season which means that Luke Humphries, the man who won four of these things in 2022, is the number one seed and topping the top half as a result. Seven other seeds will be out to get the better of him in the top half and they include the world champion Michael Smith, the former world champion Peter Wright, the UK Open title holder Danny Noppert, Ryan Searle, another former world champion in Rob Cross, Dirk van Duijvenbode and the popular Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Eight qualifiers will also be in this part of the draw with Daryl Gurney one of the standouts among them as he looks to get back to the better end of his career. The former BDO star Richard Veenstra is in this half of the draw too. Ritchie Edhouse and Niko Springer are two of the other qualifiers in the top half while Martijn Drajt, Mario Vandenbogaerde and Keegan Brown also in here. James Wade is surprisingly having to qualify for these events at the minute. He has done so and is in this half this weekend.
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Bottom Half
It is not very often these days that Michael van Gerwen is only the second seed for a tournament but that is the case here courtesy of his European Tour ranking last season. He is the top seed in the bottom half of the draw and if everything goes with the seedings he’ll face Damon Heta in the semi-final. Jonny Clayton, Nathan Aspinall, Joe Cullen, Martin Schindler, Dave Chisnall and Gerwyn Price will all be looking to force their own way through the draw.
There are some recognisable names in among the qualifiers in this part of the draw as well. The former world champion Stephen Bunting is one of them while another man who have lifted a world title in Steve Beaton is also in here. Ted Evetts, Arron Monk, Bradley Brooks, the home man Lukas Wenig, Lewy Williams and Graham Usher all make up a competitive looking bottom half of the draw this weekend.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of players over the course of this weekend, one in each half of the draw. In the top half I quite like the way Dimitri Van den Bergh has been performing in the Premier League in the first month of the campaign and as someone who is a bit of a flag bearer for European darts I’m sure he’ll be keen for a good season in these European Tour events. Van den Bergh has scored very well in the Premier League and looks to have a workable route through to Sunday evening where once you get there these things can go to anyone. With the exception of Michael Smith, there isn’t a lot in terms of form in his half of the draw so Van den Bergh feels a good bet to me.
In the bottom half I feel like I need someone in the bottom quarter where Damon Heta remains a vulnerable top seed in my eyes. His performances in the European Tour is better than the TV stages but I’m still not convinced by him. Gerwyn Price has gone well in the Premier League but he might have his eyes on that rather than this so it might all play into the hands of Dave Chisnall, who won a European Tour event last year and will probably go in at some point this season too. Chisnall remains a heavy scorer and if he can build up some early form on the doubles, with his confidence high after a spin to the semi-final of a Players Championship event last week, Chisnall can give us a good run.
Tips
Back D.Van den Bergh to win Baltic Sea Darts Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with BetVictor (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back D.Chisnall to win Baltic Sea Darts Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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