40/1 Outsider Mensur Suljovic Wins Champions League Of Darts

40/1 Outsider Mensur Suljovic Wins Champions League Of Darts

Champions League won by Mensur Suljovic

Serbian-born Austrian Mensur Suljovic recorded a remarkable tournament win last weekend in Cardiff when the 40/1 outsider took down this year’s Champions League of Darts live on the BBC.

The Gentle’s win, his first major event victory, came at the expense of world number two Gary Anderson who he defeated 11-9 in the final on Sunday night.

Unlike his opponent, who is a veteran of such events as a two-time World Champion, it was only Suljovic’s second major televised final. Suljovic’s previous final appearance came last year at the 2016 European Championship where he was roundly beaten by MVG. Fortunately for Suljovic, the gulf in experience didn’t show this time around.

The road to victory

In an admittedly scrappy final, Anderson did at least post an improved average, up from their first meeting in the group stages, and beat Suljovic’s 87.85 with 98.03. Ultimately, Anderson didn’t have enough to beat the underdog, who took 11 of his 30 attempts at double and finished on his favourite double 14 to win the tournament, checking out at the second attempt. Surprisingly, Suljovic has now beaten Anderson in four of their last six meetings.

On his way to the final, the 45-year-old also took out Raymond van Barneveld with a 160 check out on his way to a 11-9 win in the semi-final stage.

In the other semi-final, Gary Anderson brought an end to the outgoing Phil Taylor’s Champions League of Darts career with a 11-6 victory. For his part, earlier in the tourney, The Power had knocked out Michael van Gerwen 10-5 in the group stages. Taylor also recorded wins against Raymond van Barneveld and Adrian Lewis to top the group and take his place against Group B runner up, Anderson in the semis.

Group B was topped by eventual winner Mensur Suljovic following wins against Dave Chisnall, Peter Wright and for the first time in two days, Gary Anderson. Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall had been beaten by Anderson before his meeting with Phil Taylor on Sunday.

Upcoming darts action

PDC Director Rod Harrington has now tipped Suljovic for Premier League Darts selection after hailing him as the most improved player on the circuit over the past two to three years. With his victory, he also now a 50/1 longshot at Betway to win the PDC World Championship at the end of the year.

The next big televised major is the World Grand Prix, which takes place at Dublin’s Citywest Hotel from October 1-7 and will be broadcast on Sky Sports. Before this event, players will travel back to Germany for this weekend’s International Darts Open at the Sachsenarena, Riesa.

Last year’s International Darts Open was won by, wait for it, Mensur Suljovic, his previous PDC title win. To repeat the feat this year, he is a 9/1 second favourite in the betting with Betway, a decent darts betting tip given his current form.

With no Michael van Gerwen or Gary Anderson, world number three Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright is the favourite at 3/1 at the same sportsbook. Third seed Daryl Gurney is a best price 11/1 shot at Betway, while Bet365 lists Rob Cross next at 10/1, before the 12’s offered by Betway for Dave Chisnall, which could encourage some action.

With a major now under his belt, Suljovic is the form man going into the tourney so is as likely a winner as anyone. However, the major talent remains Peter Wright, but his early season form has long since deserted him, failing to even make it out of the groups last weekend. That said, no Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis, Raymond van Barneveld or the world’s top two opens things up considerably. Such a long price favourite is always worth backing, especially if brings anything close to his A-game to Germany this weekend.

Further down the line, both Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall should be watched closely. Also, keep an eye out too for Kim Huybrechts who, at 25/1 with Bet365, is well worth an outside, each way punt.

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Michael Van Gerwen To Win The Champions League Of Darts

Michael Van Gerwen To Win The Champions League Of Darts

Michael Van Gerwen Champions Wins Champions League of Darts

Michael van Gerwen made it two for two since his return to live darts by following up last week’s win in his native Holland with a win in Germany.

Following a month off, he claimed his second tournament win in a row when he took down the German Darts Grand Prix final in Mannheim on Sunday night. It was his fifth European Tour title of 2017 and 14th tournament of the year, this time coming at the expense of Rob Cross, a 6-3 loser in the final.

Van Gerwen started the week in blistering form, whitewashing Richard North with an average of 111 in the second round. From there, he moved on to his next victim Welshman Gerwyn Price, who duly succumbed to a 6-2 defeat.

In the quarter-finals, van Gerwen was paired with fellow Dutchman Jelle Klaasen, who lost 6-1 to his senior countryman with an average of 102.56. Simon Whitlock was next up in the semis, and was made to pay for his 11 missed double shots as MVG posted his second whitewash of the weekend with another 111 average.

For the final, Van Gerwen opened with a 180, which was followed with a 12-darter. And despite dropping a few early legs, Van Gerwen still managed to land a maximum. The World Champion was in uncharacteristically generous form, falling behind to rising star Cross, who avoided punishment for five missed doubles to lead 3-2. Cross threatened to break the Dutchman but missed the bull shot to let MVG off the hook.

From there, van Gerwen secured the break to take the lead and never looked back. Another 180 followed soon after, which he followed with 11 and 12 darters before a 110 checkout banked yet another victory for the world number one.

Champions League of Darts betting

This week the action returns to the UK with the 2017 Champions League of Darts taking place in Cardiff, Wales on September 16 through 17 at the Motorpoint Arena. For Welsh darts fans, the occasion will be their last opportunity to see Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor in action before retirement in January.

The event, which will be broadcast on the BBC, will take the top eight world-ranked players and split them into two groups. The top two players from each group will then progress into Sunday’s semi-finals and final, played in round-robin format. After the groups stage, the winner of Group A will play the runner-up of Group B, and vice versa in the semis.

Taylor claimed victory in the inaugural tournament here last year, beating van Gerwen in the group stage as well as the final. This time around, Mighty Mike is again the odds-on favourite, which was also the case at the Matchplay a month ago when Taylor ran out the tournament winner.

Since Taylor’s victory, van Gerwen has won each of the two European Tour events held over the past fortnight, recording an unbeaten run of ten games in the process. The two have been seeded into the same group meaning we will see the pair square off again, this time for the first time since Taylor branded van Gerwen an idiot in Blackpool last month.

Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld — who is making his Cardiff debut — round out the rest of Group A. Taylor is 3/1 to take the group ahead of Lewis and van Barneveld at 8’s and 9’s respectively. Oh, and the best price on van Gerwen is 8/15 at Betway and Bet365.

Group B sees world numbers 2 and 3, Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson and Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, joined by two more Champions League debutants Dave Chisnall and Mensur Suljovic. Suljovic is considered the outsider of the group at 8/1 just behind Chisnall at 6/1. The top Scottish pair of Anderson and Wright are expected to progress into Sunday with Anderson 6/5 to win the group and Peter Wright at 6/4.

As for outright prices, MVG is 5/6 at both Bet365 and Betway, while the latter of the two sportsbooks place Gary Anderson as the 5/1 second favourite. For the last six players, Bet365 and Betway are in agreement in the betting prices, with Peter Wright at 6/1 and Phil Taylor at 6/1. From here it’s hard to see a winner from outside this quartet. The betting quite rightly begins to drift out for the likes of Adrian Lewis (25/1), Dave ‘Chizzy’ Chisnall (28/1), Raymond van Barneveld (28/1) and Mensur Suljovic
(40/1).

Unibet Champions League of Darts line-up

Group A

Michael van Gerwen
Phil Taylor
Adrian Lewis
Raymond van Barneveld

Group B

Gary Anderson
Peter Wright
Dave Chisnall
Mensur Suljovic

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Michael van Gerwen Wins Fourth Straight Dutch Darts Masters

Michael van Gerwen Wins Fourth Straight Dutch Darts Masters

Michael Van Gerwen Wins 4th Dutch Darts Masters

Michael van Gerwen returned to action last weekend and instantly was in familiar territory after claiming his fourth successive Dutch Darts Masters. Playing back in his homeland after taking a month off, Mighty Mike beat English veteran Steve Beaton in a brilliant 6-1 display in Sunday’s final at the MECC in Maastricht.

This was the fourth European Tour title of the year for the world number one who saw off Jeffrey de Zwaan, Kyle Anderson, Daryl Gurney and Michael Smith in route to the final.

Van Gerwen proves too much for Beaton

For 53-year-old Beaton, participation came through the UK qualifiers, where he made the most of things once in Holland. Victories over German youngsters Nico Blum and Martin Schindler, plus impressive wins over third seed Mensur Suljovic and second seed Peter Wright helped the former BDO world number one come close to replicating the golden years.

Alas, the Bronzed Adonis was unable to see off the threat presented by Van Gerwen as the Dutchman’s class shone through immediately, opening up a 2-0 lead courtesy of an 80-dart finish, followed by a 13-darter. A few rounds later, Beaton’s throw was broken by MVG’s 12-darter. That was followed up by a double putting the Dutchman up 5-1 before hitting his third 180 of the night plus a final 77 to record a definitive win.

German Darts betting tips

Michael van Gerwen’s next World Series of Darts circuit appearance will be at the German Darts Masters in Dusseldorf running between the 20th – 21st of October. Also in Germany this weekend, we will see the inaugural German Darts Grand Prix, which will be taking place from September 8-10 in Mannheim.

World Champion Michael van Gerwen will be the hot favourite to win what would be his 12th tournament of the season. At 4/6, he can be picked up at Betway, and there will no better value anywhere else. Certainly, the other darters on the circuit will not be pleased to see the return of Mighty Mike.

UK Open champion Peter Wright should be the closest rival to the Dutchman. Snakebite, this year’s nearly man — who was runner-up in both the Premier League and World Matchplay — is available at 5/1 with Bet365. At 18/1, Dave Chisnall is also well worth a look at Bet365, who are offering the same price for Austria’s Mensur Suljovic.

Next are longshots Michael Smith at 25/1 and a reasonable 40/1 at Bet365 for Simon Whitlock. But it’s likely all chum with a refreshed MVG in the 48-man field who will feel — with more than enough justification — that victory is a near certainty.

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