The final European Tour event of the season takes place this weekend when the German Darts Championship is played out in Hildesheim. This is a decent tournament in its own right but it will finalise the field for the European Championship too.
Michael van Gerwen has no worries regarding being in the European Championship and he will aim to go there by making a successful defence of this title. A decent field opposes him with some still needing to secure their spot at the big event later in the month.
Recent Winners
2022 – Michael van Gerwen
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 qualifiers will open up the event on Friday when they meet each other for a spot in the last 32. 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
Dave Chisnall has been the best player of the season in the European Tour events and as such he is the number one seed this week and will be the main man in the top half of the draw. Should the rankings prove significant this weekend then Chisnall would run into Dirk van Duijvenbode in the semi-final. As ever there are six seeds who will be out to stop that from happening. They are Ross Smith, the defending champion Michael van Gerwen, Joe Cullen, home star Martin Schindler, Josh Rock and Danny Noppert.
There are a number of decent qualifiers in this half of the draw with Stephen Bunting among the standard setters in light of the fact that he has been to a European Tour final this season. Scott Waites has managed to qualify for this tournament and he’ll be looking to set up a meeting with van Duijvenbode on Saturday. Florian Hempel and Gabriel Clemens will look to use the home crowd to his advantage this week while Vincent van der Voort and Daryl Gurney are two other recognisable players.
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Bottom Half
Damon Heta has managed to hold onto the second best spot in the order of merit being used to determine the seeding for this tournament so as the number two seed he is the leading player in the bottom half of the draw. If everything goes with the seeds then he will go up against the new World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries in the semi-final but for that to happen they will have to come through a draw which includes Ryan Searle, Jonny Clayton, Peter Wright, Nathan Aspinall, Rob Cross and the world champion Michael Smith as the other seeds.
The qualifiers in this half of the draw are very strong with the likes of Alan Soutar, Jeff Smith and Ryan Joyce all capable of going deep in a tournament. Gian van Veen is making big strides in the game and has another opportunity to show his worth this weekend. Jelle Klaasen will be looking for a big weekend to make the most of qualifying despite not having a tour card while James Wade, Chris Dobey and Martin Lukeman will be looking to go well. Nico Kurz will hope to make the most of a home crowd behind him.
Betting
This isn’t a draw where there is a real area to target this week but if there is a soft section of it then it probably comes in the second quarter where Dirk van Duijvenbode is the leading light and at 16/1 there is enough mileage in his price to warrant a bet this weekend. In terms of seeds he has Martin Schindler, Josh Rock and Danny Noppert to get the better of. Rock is a little short of form in recent times which will be a bit of a help.
The doubling of Martin Schindler is always a concern for me which leaves Noppert and matches between the two Dutch stars tend to either be close or van Duijvenbode runs away with them so that is a favourable draw potentially through to the semi-final and from there the tournament will be winnable for anyone. Van Duijvenbode has made two finals and two semi-finals on the European Tour this season so when he gets a favourable draw like this he knows how to maximise it and at 16/1 I’ll pay to see how well he goes here.
Tips
Back D.van Duijvenbode to win German Darts Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with Betway (1/2 1-2)
