For the second weekend in a row we have a European Tour darts event to entertain us with the European Darts Trophy beginning on Friday. Mensur Suljovic took advantage of some high profile withdrawals last weekend to win the biggest trophy of his life and he’ll be looking to back that up this weekend.
Recent Winners
2015 – Michael Smith
2014 – Michael Smith
2013 – Wes Newton
The Format
This is a three day tournament with the qualifiers all meeting on Friday with the winner of each of the 16 matches moving forward to face the seeded players in the last 32 on Saturday. The tournament is played out as a knockout event from there with the last 16 onwards all being played in full on Sunday. All matches are the best of 11 legs.
Top Quarter
James Wade missed the tournament last week but he is back in action here and he is the main seed at the top of the draw in Muelheim. He is joined in this quarter in terms of seeds by Alan Norris, the hat trick of titles seeking Michael Smith and Robert Thornton. None of them will daunt him.
The set of qualifiers in this part of the draw include Justin Pipe, Andy Jenkins, Mervyn King, Dimitri van den Bergh and Steve West which gives a more competitive feel to the section but Wade should like what he sees on paper.
Second Quarter
Last week’s champion Mensur Suljovic is in this quarter but it is Peter Wright who is the main seed in it. The other two seeds are Ian White and Stephen Bunting so this is a pretty competitive quarter in that regard.
There are some talented qualifiers in this section with Joe Cullen, Jamie Lewis, Robbie Green, Andy Smith and Devon Petersen having all made it through and been drawn in this quarter and each of those will be looking for a big weekend.
Third Quarter
Kim Huybrechts is the leading seed in this quarter after a decent run last weekend. Dave Chisnall is also in this quarter and that would be a tasty quarter final. Terry Jenkins and Gerwyn Price complete the seeds in a reasonably competitive section.
Possibly the most dangerous of all the qualifiers is also in this section as Kyle Anderson has been drawn here. Other qualifiers include Joe Murnan, Darren Webster and Jamie Caven so the seeds will need to be careful here.
Bottom Quarter
Michael van Gerwen is back after missing last week’s tournament and he is the headliner in this part of the draw. Simon Whitlock has become the 16th seed and he’s also in here while Jelle Klaasen and Benito van de Pas give the seedings in this quarter a strong Dutch flavour.
Josh Payne, Cristo Reyes, Vincent van der Voort and Keegan Brown are all dangerous floaters in this part of the draw and if Ricky Evans gets it right he has shown in the past that he can beat anyone as well.
Betting
I’m going to take a couple of bets this weekend and they both come in the top half where we don’t need to run into Michael van Gerwen until at least the final. The first is on last week’s winner Mensur Suljovic.
I have thought for a while that when the Austrian broke the dam down he would be a regular winner at this sort of level and he has the draw to build on the confidence of his win last weekend this week. He is in a section where there are a lot of rhythm players but you don’t get one of them against him. He is playing well and at 28/1 there is enough in his price to warrant a punt.
I’m also going to take a chance on one at a much bigger price and that is Mervyn King. Knowing when to get King at a good time is never easy but he does tend to go well as the year begins to end. I mean that in a calendar sense of course because there are some huge events to come in the next three months.
That means King is likely to be pounding the practice board at the minute and with that in mind his game should be in decent shape. He has a draw which could open up for him and at a three figure price I’ll pay to see how well he goes.
Tips
PLACED – Back M.Suljovic to win European Darts Trophy (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Bet365 (1/2 1-2)
Back M.King to win European Darts Trophy (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Bet365 (1/2 1-2)
Back them here:
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