A solid run of major darts tournaments begins this weekend with the European Championship which after years of being held in Germany moves to Belgium for this edition. The three day event which begins on Friday will be live on ITV4 in the UK throughout the entirety of the tournament.
Due to the European Order of Merit getting some places in this tournament the field isn’t as ultra-strong as it could be in other events but the way the draw has panned out has made for what should be a really competitive weekend.
One of the beauties of this tournament apart from the fantastic crowds it entices to follow it which in turn inspires the players to deliver some top tungsten is the format which after a quirky and nervy best of 11 leg first round shoots straight up to the best of 19 and 21 for the rest of the tournament. That too allows players to relax, find a rhythm and stun us with their ability.
With this being a quick three day tournament and the potential for match betting maybe not what it could be due to timing issues I’m going to get stuck into the outright market and the quarter betting in the hope of nailing something to make this a successful tournament to warm up for the big ones to come.
I’ll start with the first quarter where not surprisingly Michael van Gerwen is the number one seed. He faces his countryman Jeffrey de Zwaan in the first round which should be a comfortable win but with Max Hopp, Cristo Reyes, Ian White, Stephen Bunting, Dave Chisnall and Mensur Suljovic awaiting him later in the quarter MVG won’t have things all his own way here.
Suljovic is in really good form at the minute and I think there will be a time to take him soon although this quarter might just be too strong for him. Hopp and Reyes are great talents but one will come up against MVG in the second round which hurts their chances.
In the end I have this down to three men to take MVG on with. Chisnall, White or Bunting and at the prices I’m going to have a go on Bunting. Bunting is back with his old darts now and they are already getting him back to where he should be.
Last weekend he made a semi and a quarter final in the Players Championship events and these longer matches, should he come past White in the first round, should be right up his street. Bunting is a world class darts player and with his form and confidence returning he’s too big at 14/1 to come through here no matter how tough it is.
The second quarter looks an open quarter but when you whittle it down it actually has one man screaming out at us and not just because of his fancy colours he dons on the stage. Obviously that man is Peter Wright.
Wright will need to see off some dangerous opponents in the form of Alan Norris, home hero Kim Huybrechts, Mervyn King and Robert Thornton among others but few in the game are playing as well as Wright right now.
Two weeks ago Wright made the final of a European Tour event where he had match darts in the final to win before ultimately succumbing to Kim Huybrechts but he bounced straight back from that to convincingly win a Players Championship event last weekend where he lost just 16 legs in the entire event and five of them were in the final.
Wright looks to have a lovely rhythm about his throw at the minute and he’s a big danger to the entire field this weekend. At 25/1 he’s definitely worth a pop in the outright market.
The third quarter houses the world champion Gary Anderson but he could be worth taking on despite his win in a Players Championship event last weekend. This is another quarter stacked with talent with James Wade, Raymond Barneveld, Jelle Klaasen, Simon Whitlock, Terry Jenkins and Brendan Dolan in the section so whoever wins it will have had to play some solid darts.
The man I think can come through is James Wade. Wade made the semi-final of the European Tour event two weeks ago and was the runner up to Anderson last weekend so he’s in great touch at the minute and at 7/2 he’s a better looking value alternative to Anderson in this portion of the draw.
All eyes will be on Phil Taylor in the final section of the draw but he is another who looks well worth taking on. He faces Vincent van der Voort for the second TV event in a row in the first round and then were he to come through that he could face another nemesis in Michael Smith. After that Adrian Lewis is a possible opponent so Taylor will win this the hard way if indeed he does win it.
I don’t think he will though and in fact I really like Adrian Lewis this weekend. He is a former winner of this tournament and I get the impression his very best form is ready to come out with the right draw. He has that this week with Benito van de Pas and either Justin Pipe or Dirk van Duijvenbode his path to the quarter finals.
I would expect him to make the quarters without too much trouble and from there it is who is best on the day but we know he can beat Taylor, Anderson and Wade and with his motivation maybe slightly better than some others after a barren 12-18 months or so I’ll take Ady to hit the Jackpot this weekend.
Back P.Wright to win European Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back A.Lewis to win European Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 19.00 with Stan James (1/2 1-2)
Back S.Bunting to win 1st Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with William Hill
Back J.Wade to win 3rd Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Paddy Power
Blog darts YTD: +14.69pts
