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August29August 29, 2019

Michael van Gerwen Wins New Zealand Darts Masters

Two Dutch legends met in the final of the New Zealand Darts Masters in the early hours of Sunday morning when Michael van Gerwen thrashed Raymond van Barneveld 8-1 to take his second World Series title in a week.

In a repeat of last year’s corresponding final in Auckland, Mighty Mike was just too good for his compatriot and won his latest title with ease in front of a 4000-strong crowd at the Claudelands Arena in Hamilton.

The game’s fate was sealed almost immediately as Barney missed three darts at doubles in the opening two legs which allowed MVG to open up a 2-0 lead. That lead would soon be stretched to 5-0 as van Gerwen broke again with a 100 checkout in the second of the following three sets he reeled off.

Down 5-0, Barney finally did get a score on the board after he landed a double ten in the sixth leg. Sadly for the retiring legend, this was to be his only point of the match as the world number one would go on to claim the next three legs and walk away with yet another title, his 14th World Series title overall.

Earlier on in the day, MVG had produced a brilliant 8-5 win over Gary Anderson in a repeat of the final in Melbourne a week earlier. Mighty Mike followed that with a semi-final clash with former world champion Rob Cross, who he overcame in an 8-3 victory to secure a place in the final in Hamilton.

Barney’s route to the final saw him take on Daryl Gurney in the last eight, where he would run out the 8-6 winner. From there, he moved on to James Wade in the semi-final, where he sealed an 8-5 victory to set up the all-Dutch clash with van Gerwen.

Austrian Darts Championship Betting Tips Defending Champion

Our heroes now return to the European circuit and this week are back on European Tour duty as competitive play moves on to Schwechat in Austria t. The 2019 Austrian Darts Championship will take place on August 30 through September 1 and will see the return of the European Tour after a short break down under.

The top 16 players all receive a bye in the first round so we will need to wait a day to see number one seed Michael van Gerwen get his campaign underway. Mighty Mike will be aiming to make it three titles in three weekends after two World Series triumphs and is 11/10 with Betway to do precisely that. There is no Gary Anderson or Rob Cross this week so Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright goes in as the second favourite at the distant price of 7/1, slightly lower than Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith’s 9/1.

Things drift even further until Daryl Gurney’s 12/1 and Gerwyn Price’s 16/1. Mensur Suljovic will be the home favourite as the number seven seed. The Gentle is available for 20/1 as is Nathan Aspinall, while Dave Chisnall is 25/1 ahead of the rest of what is a packed field for a three-day event.

Austrian Darts Championship 2019 Schedule of Play

Friday August 30 (First Round)

William O’Connor v Brendan Dolan
James Wilson v Gavin Carlin
Adam Gawlas v Ross Smith
Ted Evetts v Host Nation Qualifier 2
Cameron Menzies v West/South European Qualifier 2
Host Nation Qualifier 5 v Cor Dekker
Justin Pipe v Vincent van der Voort
Jermaine Wattimena v Christian Bunse
Host Nation Qualifier 1 v Kirk Shepherd
Mark Webster v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Luke Humphries v Jamie Hughes
Host Nation Qualifier 4 v Keegan Brown
West/South European Qualifier 1 v Chris Dobey
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Josh Payne
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Host Nation Qualifier 3
Kyle Anderson v Stephen Bunting

Saturday August 31 (Second Round)

Steve Beaton v Wilson/Carlin
Simon Whitlock v Pipe/Van der Voort
Gerwyn Price v O’Connor/Dolan
Dave Chisnall v Host Nation Qualifier 5/Dekker
Ricky Evans v Host Nation Qualifier 1/Shepherd
Michael Smith v Menzies/ West/South European Qualifier 2
Ian White v Evetts/ Host Nation Qualifier 2
Adrian Lewis v Wattimena/Bunse
Nathan Aspinall v Host Nation Qualifier 4/Brown
Daryl Gurney v Rodriguez/Payne
Jonny Clayton v West/South European Qualifier 1/Dobey
Peter Wright v M Webster/Van den Bergh
Mensur Suljovic v Gawlas/R Smith
Joe Cullen v Humphries/Hughes
Michael van Gerwen v Anderson/Bunting
Darren Webster v De Zwaan/ Host Nation Qualifier 3

Sunday September 1

Third Round
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final

QUICK GLANCE AT THE AUSTRIAN DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP

Venue: Multiversum Schwechat
Dates: August 30 – September 1
Format: Best of 11-15 legs
Current Champion: N/A
Where To Watch: PDC TV
When To Watch: (12.00, 18.15 GMT)

August22August 29, 2019

Michael Van Gerwen Wins Melbourne Darts Masters

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Michael Van Gerwen returned to winning ways last weekend as he beat Daryl Gurney 8-3 in the final of the Melbourne Darts Masters to claim yet another title. On route to the final, he also took care of Gary Anderson and Peter Wright as the world number one began to look something like close to his best.

He was of course, the pre-tournament favourite, but prior to Melbourne, he hadn’t looked like himself for weeks, especially in Blackpool, where he fell out early in a very disappointing World Matchplay campaign. In fact, Saturday’s win saw Mighty Mike pick up his first solo PDC title since lifting his fifth Premier League crown back in May.

MVG Melbourne campaign didn’t even get started particularly well as he dismissed Tim Pusey on Friday without posting a 100+ average, for what was to be the 14th match in a row. By Saturday, he was back to himself, averaging 100.63 and throwing seven 180s in a thrilling 8-6 quarter-final destruction of Gary Anderson.

Mighty Mike’s next victim was Peter Wright, who in contrast, was back to his sloppy worst. MVG punished Snakebite 8-0 accordingly, while whitewashed Wright averaged only 82.61 and missed each of his five darts at doubles.

Runner-up in Melbourne, Daryl ‘Superchin’ Gurney, qualified for his first World Series final by beating Simon Whitlock and Rob Cross. In the final, Superchin reached an average of 100.6, marginally higher than MVG’s 99 but flailed at the doubles. The same could not be said for van Gerwen, however, who landed 8 of his 19 double attempts as he ran out the 8-3 winner, his 13th World Series crown and first in Australia since 2016.

As for the shock Brisbane Darts Masters champion Damon Heta, he was eliminated at the hands of Rob ‘Voltage’ Cross in the quarter-finals in an 8-3 victory.

New Zealand Darts Masters 2019 Betting Tips

The players will now move on to the fifth of this season’s PDC World Series of Darts events, the New Zealand Darts Masters, which takes place at the Claudelands Arena in Hamilton from August 23-24.

The Betway favourite Michael van Gerwen will be looking to make it two titles in a row after his recent success in Melbourne last week. Mighty Mike insists everyone is running scared of him following his win last week, which feels more like cocky bluster and him trying to convince himself as much as anything else. Betway have taken the bait and chalked him up as 11/8 to do so.

His compatriot, Raymond van Barneveld, whom he beat in the final last year, is gearing up to make his final competitive tournament in New Zealand before retirement. RVB looks miles away from going out in a blaze of glory, however, which is reflected in his long price of 40/1. He should make it past Cody Harris to get to the last four at least.

Daryl Gurney reached his first final for five months in Melbourne last weekend but was unable to capitalise. He was shot down in the final and Superchin goes to Hamilton as an 11/1 shot which looks fair enough given how kind the draw has been to him.

Peter Wright, who opens up against Damon Heta, had a horrible time last week, being ejected by way of a whitewash at the hands of MVG. Snakebite will need up his game considerably if he is to do better in New Zealand, but even then the 7/1 offered on him looks unlikely to pay a dividend.

Gary Anderson and Rob Cross are also in the star-studded field. Both, along with MVG, are in the bottom half of the 16-man draw. For Gary, he hasn’t looked himself for a while now so sharp bettors would probably be wise to steer clear of him even though an outright win for The Flying Scotsman is priced at 13/2 and wouldn’t be a completely shocking surprise. At the same time, Voltage Rob Cross — at 4/1 — has to be tempting.

James Wade is 18/1, Simon Whitlock is available at 28/1 and Kyle Anderson is 33’s. Further down the betting line is Brisbane hero Damon Heta (50/1), Cody Harris (66/1), Craig Caldwell (150/1), Hapai Puha (150/1), David Platt (200/1), Warren Parry (250/1) and Ben Robb (300/1) bring up the field.

Friday, August 23 (Best of 11 legs)

James Wade v Craig Caldwell
Simon Whitlock v Ben Robb
Daryl Gurney v David Platt
Rob Cross v Warren Parry
Gary Anderson v Haupai Puha
Peter Wright v Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen v Kyle Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld v Cody Harris

Saturday, August 24 (Best of 15 legs)

Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final

QUICK GLANCE AT THE NEW ZEALAND DARTS MASTERS

Venue: Claudelands Arena, Hamilton
Dates: Thursday Friday 23.08.2019 – Saturday 24.08.2019
Format: First round, best of 11 legs, QF, SF, F, best of 15 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: PDC TV 05.00 and delayed coverage on ITV 4 20.00
When To Watch: (08.30 GMT PDC TV & delayed coverage on ITV 4 from 20.00 GMT)

August16August 16, 2018

Peter Wright Beats Michael Smith To Win The Melbourne Darts Masters

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright returned to his winning ways last weekend as he beat Michael Smith in Sunday’s final to take down the Melbourne Darts Masters title at the Hisense Arena, one round after beating Mighty Michael van Gerwen in the semis one round earlier.

Wright now becomes the fifth World Series winner after five events in 2018 after Michael van Gerwen won in Auckland a week ago, the first of three Antipodean-hosted World Series events, the next of which takes place this coming weekend in Brisbane. Your other 2018 winners are Gary Anderson, who won Las Vegas; Mensur Suljovic, who won the German Darts Masters back in May; and this week’s losing finalist, Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith, who claimed the Shanghai Darts Masters in July.

Wright, who won the 2017 German Darts Masters, now scoops his second World Series title after overcoming Michael Smith 11-8 to end his run of bad form in which he hadn’t won a televised final in 2018. Even more perversely, in 2017 he become only the fourth man ever to win 10 during a calendar year, demonstrating just how far he’d fallen this season.

The path to taking Melbourne

His return to form came in earnest when he overcame last week’s Auckland Darts Masters champion Van Gerwen 11-5 in the last four, a win aided by a sloppy MVG firing three successive darts into the bullseye as his usual poise deserted him. In the evening’s other semi, Smith defeated the third seed, Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson 11-5 to make the final.

During said final, Wright averaged around two points less than his rival as he banked 97 under 99. For the rest of the match they were almost inseparable, matching each other almost dart for dart and throw for throw, scoring five 180s and two ton-plus finishes each.

The deadlock continued for thirteen sets before Wright finally made a breakthrough and landed a 130 checkout to break throw and take the 14th leg to lead 8-6. Once ahead, Wright found his rhythm to score a third break in a row with a 131 as part of a 12-darter. This was followed by a 15-darter to hold his throw and take down a 10-7 margin. By the time he returned to the oche, all he had to do was close out the 11-8 win.

The players now head to Queensland to compete for the inaugural Brisbane Darts Masters from August 17-19 at the BCEC.

2018 World Series of Darts winners so far

Mensur Suljovic – German Darts Masters (May)
Gary Anderson – US Darts Masters (July)
Michael Smith – Shanghai Darts Masters (July)
Michael van Gerwen – Auckland Darts Masters (August)
Peter Wright – Melbourne Darts Masters (August)

Brisbane Darts Masters betting tips

For those that fancy Peter Wright to pick up where he left off, you’ll be pleased to know that Betway have placed an 8/1 price on his head to win outright in Brisbane. Remember, though: we have had five different winners from five events.

If you’re looking for a new name this time around then your best bet would seemingly be Rob ‘Voltage’ Cross, available at 11/2. The 8/11 favourite is, understandably, Michael van Gerwen, just ahead of Gary Anderson’s 11/2. It’s the Scotsman who gets our money this week. Michael Smith — winner in Shanghai — is at 14’s, while the Aussie pair of Corey Cadby (22/1) and Simon Whitlock (33/1) are considered outside chances, as is Raymond van Barneveld at 28/1.