The first round of the European Championship concludes in Dortmund on Friday night when we see the players in the bottom half of the draw in action for the first time this week as we draw closer to the end of the European Tour campaign.
It will be on Friday evening when Ross Smith begins the defence of his title and we will also see the likes of Michael van Gerwen and the recently crowned World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries on show over the course of the night.
First Four Matches
The second night of action opens up with the Australian player Damon Heta looking to secure what would still be a rare win in front of the TV cameras when he takes on the Dutch player Gian van Veen. When they are done our second outright bet Joe Cullen will walk onto the stage to take on Krzysztof Ratajski. Two men from Northern Ireland meet in the third match of the evening when Josh Rock takes on the man he might well end up partnering at the World Cup next year in Daryl Gurney before we reach the halfway mark of the session with Jonny Clayton taking on Jose de Sousa.
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Later Four Matches
There should be no shortage of excitement over the course of the second part of the session and that all gets up and running with Dirk van Duijvenbode taking on James Wade in what could turn out to be the pick of the Friday matches. Luke Humphries will then walk onto a TV stage for the first time since he won the World Grand Prix to take on Brendan Dolan, while Michael van Gerwen begins his latest attempt to get his hands back on this title when he opens up against Madars Razma. We conclude with the defending champion Ross Smith opening up against the man who won the last qualifying event in Ricardo Pietreczko.
Betting
I still don’t fancy getting too involved in these sprint matches but I’m a little surprised that Gian van Veen is the price he is to see off Damon Heta. To be fair to Heta, he has just made the final of a Players Championship event but he didn’t really beat anyone you wouldn’t expect him to in that run so while it might help his confidence, I don’t see it as a massive form guide and I’m still unsure about him whenever he walks onto a TV stage.
I think there is plenty of upside to Gian van Veen and we might well get to see it here. He has already reached a couple of Players Championship finals in his career and he made the semi-final of another last week where he had the likes of Rob Cross, Stephen Bunting and Ryan Searle among his victims. Unlike Heta, van Veen has generally shown no signs of doubling issues on the stage and he has that confidence of youth and scoring power which can take him to victory here.
Tips
Back G.van Veen to beat D.Heta for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
