The European Tour campaign continues this weekend when the German Darts Championship takes place out in Hildesheim as the leading lights on the darting scene look to put on a show and pick up cash to assist in them qualifying for the European Championship later in the year.
That is exactly what Devon Petersen did two years ago when he won the last staging of this tournament. He is back in the field looking to make a successful defence of the title and will be helped by the withdrawal of Gerwyn Price due to injury.
Recent Winners
2020 – Devon Petersen
2019 – Daryl Gurney
2018 – Michael van Gerwen
2017 – Peter Wright
2016 – Alan Norris
2015 – Michael van Gerwen
2014 – Gary Anderson
2013 – Dave Chisnall
2012 – Phil Taylor
The Format
We are using the now set in stone format for these tournaments which means that the last 32 of the tournament is played over two sessions of action on Saturday, with the last 16 on Sunday afternoon and the quarter finals on Sunday night. They are all the best-of-11 legs with the semi-finals also on Sunday evening. They are the best-of-13 and then the final in the same session is the best-of-15 legs. The draw has been pre-determined and is played in a straight knockout format.
Top Half
The halves have been switched from a couple of weeks ago which means that the number two seed is the highest one in the top half of the draw this week. That is Michael Smith with the man who beat him in the World Championship final, Peter Wright, the next highest seed. You would have to say this half of the draw is absolutely peppered with big names with Dimitri Van den Bergh, Gabriel Clemens, Ryan Searle, Krzysztof Ratajski, Damon Heta and Michael van Gerwen the other seeded players in this section.
There are some decent unseeded players in this half of the draw as well and they include the defending champion Devon Petersen, who has a humdinger of a clash with Michael Smith on Saturday. Dave Chisnall is another big name who has had to qualify for this event. The other players are Alan Soutar, Vincent van der Voort, Jamie Hughes who ran Gerwyn Price so close at the UK Open last weekend, home man Martin Schindler, Jose Justicia and Martin Lukeman.
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Bottom Half
With Price withdrawing from the event, Jose de Sousa has the honour of being the number one seed this weekend. He is the big seed in the bottom half of the draw but there are plenty of players here who will fancy their chances of coming through. The next highest seed is Jonny Clayton while The Masters winner Joe Cullen is also here. Luke Humphries and Callan Rydz are two emerging stars looking for a European Tour title with Rob Cross, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Chris Dobey completing the seeds.
There are no shortage of decent challengers among the qualifiers in this part of the draw either. Mensur Suljovic is a former winner of European Tour events while Kim Huybrechts is a man on the up again. Daryl Gurney is a former champion in this tournament and he’s in the draw too. The other players making up the bracket are Ricky Evans, Scott Waites, Martijn Kleermaker, Karel Sedlacek and Darius Labanauskas.
Betting
I’m not usually one for betting on short prices in an outright market but Jonny Clayton looks to have a plum draw here in the bottom half, the half which Gerwyn Price has left slightly exposed and which James Wade in a normal ranking event would be in but he isn’t here either. The other seeds in Clayton’s quarter are Joe Cullen, Luke Humphries and Callan Rydz, who all miss a lot of doubles and with the exception of Cullen would be new to winning events at this level. There isn’t really anyone Clayton can’t beat in the other part of his half either so the 13/2 that he wins the tournament looks huge to me. Usually the Sunday night is won by the man who can avoid having to go deep in matches and Clayton should be able to do that here. Given the draw I’m prepared to make the exception to my single figure price shyness.
I’ll also have a little dabble on Dirk van Duijvenbode to come through the draw at a much bigger price. He has made the World Grand Prix final in the past so he is no stranger to going deep in a tournament and I’ve seen a few signs that his confidence is beginning to return in 2022. He looked good in the previous European Tour event before he ran into Michael Smith in the last 16. He was just rampant against DvD in that match. Van Duijvenbode was going ok in the UK Open too until he ran into the eventual champion Danny Noppert in the last 16. Rob Cross, Jose de Sousa and Chris Dobey and none of them are in scary form so if van Duijvenbode plays well this weekend he could do some damage.
Tips
Back J.Clayton to win German Darts Championship (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 7.50 with Betfair (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back D.van Duijvenbode to win German Darts Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with BetVictor (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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