After a less than enthralling World Matchplay concluded last week some of the top names in the world of darts descend of Dusseldorf this weekend for the European Darts Open which will hopefully provide better quality and much more drama than the Blackpool event did.
The Format
As ever with these European Tour events the format is the same. The non-seeds face the qualifiers on the first day on Friday for the right to face a seed in the last 32 on Saturday. From there the tournament is played as a straight knockout with every match from start to finish the best of 11 legs.
Top Half
With the absence of Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Raymond Barneveld this weekend there is a strong half of the draw and a not so strong and the top half is the latter this week. Peter Wright is the biggest seed in the top half but he looked very off form in Blackpool.
Michael Smith is the next best seed in the top half but he didn’t look a whole lot better in Blackpool. The other seeds in this half of the draw are Ian White, Stephen Bunting, Mensur Suljovic, Simon Whitlock, Terry Jenkins and Benito van de Pas which shows how weak it is in comparison to the other half.
There are a couple of dangerous floaters in this section of the draw such as Robbie Green and Daryl Gurney although they play themselves in the first round. Andy Hamilton and Devon Petersen are both capable of being spoilers on their day.
Bottom Half
This half really is a tournament in itself. Michael van Gerwen is the big name. He is looking to follow up his Blackpool success but he is going to have it tough this weekend that is for sure. Gary Anderson is also in this half of the draw and he’ll be out to make up for his semi-final disappointment in Blackpool last weekend.
The other seeds in this half of the draw are Robert Thornton, James Wade, Dave Chisnall, Alan Norris, Kim Huybrechts and Jelle Klaasen so it really is a who’s who of those who are here this weekend and whoever comes through this half will have really earned their cash.
That is without even mentioning the dangerous outsiders like Cristo Reyes, Kyle Anderson, Christian Kist and John Henderson among others so someone is going to have to play very well to come through all of that.
Betting
With the bottom half being a tournament in itself and home of the favourite and the second favourite I’m leaving that portion alone and letting that play out. My outright betting focus will come from the top half where the picture is a little easier to predict.
The market tells us we should be on Peter Wright or Michael Smith in that section but I’m not so sure. They both looked very indifferent in Blackpool last week and with this tournament coming so soon after that I’m not sure they will have been able to find the requisite confidence in time.
With that in mind I’m going to look a little deeper down the pile to Ian White who looked really good in the first round in Blackpool and didn’t do a whole lot wrong when he exited in the second round. He was in good form heading into that tournament having won a tournament earlier in the month. He was hitting 180s like they were going out of fashion in Blackpool and if he has that scoring with him this week he’ll take a lot of beating over this format.
Tips
Back I.White to win European Darts Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Ladbrokes (1/2 1-2)
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