Just five of the contenders for European glory

European Championship: Free darts betting tips, preview and predictions for the ITV4 major in Germany featuring MVG, Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Thu October 29, 2020 · 4y ago

The ITV4-televised European Championship takes place in Germany and our tipster Chris Hammer brings you his preview and best bets.

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Recommended Bets: European Championship

1pt e.w. Michael Smith to win the European Championship title at 25/1 (1/2 1, 2)
1pt e.w. Dave Chisnall to win title at 28/1 (1/2 1, 2)
0.5pts Maik Kuivenhoven to win quarter one at 33/1
1pt Krzysztof Ratajski to win quarter three at 9/2
Click here for all of Sky Bet's European Championship odds

Take the seedings away from the first-round draw and it looks as randomly put together as the last 32 of a UK Open.

With just four European Tour events taking place this season, the resulting Order of Merit - which decides the 32 qualifiers and their seedings for this ITV4-televised major - doesn't have all the usual cream at the very top, while world champion Peter Wright is curdling down in 15th.

That's highly significant because if Snakebite gets past Gabriel Clemens in the precarious best-of-11 legs first round on Thursday, then he'll most probably find himself up against second seed Gerwyn Price, who is obviously hot favourite to see off Kim Huybrechts.

However, the Welshman knows more than anyone the dangers of such a short opening round format having blown 5-1 and 4-0 leads against Devon Petersen and Ross Smith respectively in two of this winter's European Tour events despite arguably being the best player on the planet right now.

Nobody is safe in this early round, no matter what the form book says.

Michael van Gerwen is the fifth seed after failing to win a European Tour event in a season for the first time since 2012 and although he has, to his credit, reached back-to-back finals against Jose De Sousa and Joe Cullen, he's only averaged over 100 once in his last 15 matches.

He averaged in the 80s three times at last weekend's International Darts Open and only 91 in the final against Cullen, so anyone backing him at 3/1 favourite to win his fifth European Championship title shouldn't expect an easy ride by any stretch of the imagination.

Quarter One

(1) Joe Cullen v (32) William O'Connor
(16) Jamie Hughes v (17) Dave Chisnall
(8) Nathan Aspinall v (25) Maik Kuivenhoven
(9) James Wade v (24) Steve Lennon

Sky Bet odds to win quarter: Aspinall 2/1, Chisnall 4/1, Cullen 4/1, Wade 5/1, Hughes 11/1, O'Connor 14/1, Lennon 20/1, Kuivenhoven 20/1

Chris Hammer's pick: Dave Chisnall, but small punt on Maik Kuivenhoven for value

As you'll have noticed from my overall staking plan, I'm siding predominantly with Dave Chisnall to come through this section and go on and reach the final.

He may have suffered a mini hangover in the two European Tour events that have come since his agonising semi-final defeat to Gerwyn Price in the World Grand Prix but he'll be raring to go for another crack at a maiden TV title.

Those three missed match darts in a deciding leg with Price only came after he'd staged a superb fightback of his own from 3-1 down in sets so there are plenty of positives to take from an otherwise encouraging week which came a bit out of the blue having struggled for form in the previous weeks.

Obviously there are no easy games for anyone but this section is relatively light and although he lost to top seed Joe Cullen at last weekend's International Darts Open, he did overcome the Rockstar during his World Grand Prix run.

Maik Kuivenhoven is available at 33/1 to come through this quarter with some bookies and while this is only his second ever major - having made his debut at the UK Open - he is the only player in the field to boast a 100% record over MVG this year!

Sure, that is only from two matches, but far more importantly he reached the quarter-finals of the recent European Darts Grand Prix, losing 6-4 to Ian White after beating Glen Durrant and Daryl Gurney, so don't be surprised if he stuns Aspinall in a short format on Thursday.

If he gets through that, this is the kind of section where a minnow could find a way through at a big price - but just keep those stakes low on this one!

Quarter Two

(4) Devon Petersen v (29) Andy Hamilton
(13) Rob Cross v (20) Martijn Kleermaker
(5) Michael van Gerwen v (28) Darius Labanauskas
(12) Mervyn King v (21) Ian White

Sky Bet odds to win quarter: MVG 5/6, Petersen 3/1, Cross 13/2, White 10/1, King 22/1, Kleermaker 25/1, Labanauskas 40/1, Hamilton 50/1

Chris Hammer's pick: Petersen but Mervyn King for value at 22/1

As previously mentioned at the top of the article, MVG is a flaky favourite to win the title, let alone this quarter.

Darius Labanauskas is a tricky opponent first up and then he'd come up against Mervyn King, who thrashed him 6-1 in September, or Ian White in another tough clash for a player who is well below his best right now.

Even if he gets past these assignments, the odds suggest he'd then face Devon Petersen for the fourth time since the sport resumed back in July and he's lost two of the previous three.

Van Gerwen got his revenge in the double-start World Grand Prix but that was Petersen's debut in that event and there's few playing better than the South African in the conventional format of the game right now.

His three-dart average this season is up there with the very best at around 98 (see graphic at bottom of the preview) while the rate at which he's hitting 180s is far superior than anyone else. He's been rapidly turning into a real force this year but I just feel his price is maybe a little short considering his lack of TV success. That said, this is an ideal tournament to grow that experience.

I'd expect Petersen to be vying for a place in the semi-finals but it could well be King - rather than MVG - who is challenging him based on his encouraging run of form since mid-September and at 22/1, he might be worth a small flutter.

Quarter Three

(2) Gerwyn Price v (31) Kim Huybrechts
(15) Peter Wright v (18) Gabriel Clemens
(7) Mensur Suljovic v (26) Daryl Gurney
(10) Krzysztof Ratajski v (23) Steve West

Sky Bet odds to win quarter: Price 7/4, Wright 2/1, Ratajski 9/2, Gurney 10/1, Suljovic 10/1, Clemens 20/1, Huybrechts 40/1, West 40/1

Chris Hammer's pick: Krzysztof Ratajski

This is a great draw for those players harbouring genuine title aspirations because obviously only one of Peter Wright or Gerwyn Price will make it through to the third round. And there's still every chance that neither of them will be there!

Daryl Gurney and Mensur Suljovic will both whet the appetite of some punters at 10/1 to come through this quarter but I'm favouring Krzysztof Ratajski at 9/2 to potentially capitalise.

The Polish Eagle did lose to the latter 6-5 during the weekend's International Darts Open quarter-finals but he's still been one of the most dangerous players on the circuit and was so unfortunate to bow out to MVG in the opening round of the World Grand Prix in a match that went the distance.

That was an extremely tough draw but this is relatively much kinder - at least until the quarter-finals - and I really wouldn't put anyone off backing him for the title at 16/1 given his obvious talents and ability to beat anyone.

He's not got the best of records against Wright so he'd probably favour meeting Price considering how close their last three battles have been in the past 12 months. The only clash they had this season was in a Players Championship final, which the Iceman won 8-5.

Quarter Four

(3) Jose De Sousa v (30) Jeffrey de Zwaan
(14) Jonny Clayton v (19) Max Hopp
(6) Michael Smith v (27) Ross Smith
(11) Danny Noppert v (22) Dirk van Duijvenbode

Sky Bet odds to win quarter: De Sousa 7/2, Smith 10/3, Noppert 11/2, Clayton 7/1, Van Duijvenbode 8/1, Smith 17/2, Hopp 9/1, De Zwaan 10/1

Chris Hammer's value pick: Michael Smith

The 'smart' money will be on Jose De Sousa after the in-form Portuguese sensation won his maiden European Tour crown two weeks ago by defeating Michael van Gerwen 8-4 with an average of 106 in the final.

De Sousa, 46, also beat Gerwyn Price 6-3 earlier on a special day in which he captured his third PDC title in just his second season on the circuit and it could well be just a matter of time before he produces a big run at a TV major.

His backers will feel his quarter is relatively softer than it could have been but don't discount Michael Smith, who showed signs last weekend that he may just be finally finding some form heading into the winter.

Bully Boy has endured a difficult run of results since losing to Gary Anderson in the World Matchplay semi-finals and a dismal Premier League campaign really seemed to knock his confidence, especially when it came down to the finishing side of the game.

Had his narrow 10-8 quarter-final defeat to Rob Cross at the World Series of Darts Finals - in which he averaged 98 but missed 20 of his 28 darts at doubles - gone the other way then maybe we'd have seen him go on to celebrate the major title that his career deserves, but it didn't.

Now he's flying under the radar somewhat after three more disappointing tournaments since then, including a first-round exit at the World Grand Prix, but he reached the semi-finals of the International Darts Open on Sunday before losing to eventual champion Joe Cullen.

He'd only lost four legs in his previous three matches until that point and perhaps this could be the belated turning point in his season.

If he gets going in this section of the draw, then he'll be hard to stop towards the business end of the weekend, no matter who he faces.

As you can see from this statistical piece of research from Darts Tracker below, Smith's 95.89 is solid compared to most other qualifiers and although it's still a lot lower than what he'd like, this could be the weekend he reminds us of what his talents can achieve.

Odds correct as of 1100 GMT on 11/10/20

European Championship: Daily schedule

Click here for Sky Bet odds

Thursday October 29 (1600 CET)
First Round (Best of 11 legs)
TV Channel: ITV4

Jamie Hughes v Dave Chisnall
Krzysztof Ratajski v Steve West
Mervyn King v Ian White
Jose de Sousa v Jeffrey de Zwaan
James Wade v Steve Lennon
Devon Petersen v Andy Hamilton
Michael Smith v Ross Smith
Danny Noppert v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Nathan Aspinall v Maik Kuivenhoven
Joe Cullen v William O'Connor
Rob Cross v Martijn Kleermaker
Jonny Clayton v Max Hopp
Michael van Gerwen v Darius Labanauskas
Gerwyn Price v Kim Huybrechts
Peter Wright v Gabriel Clemens
Mensur Suljovic v Daryl Gurney

Friday October 30
Afternoon Session (1300 BST)
First Round (Best of 11 legs)
TV Channel: ITV4

4x Second Round

Evening Session (2000 BST)
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: ITV4

4x Second Round

Saturday October 31 (1900 BST)
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: ITV4

Quarter-Finals

Sunday November 1
Evening Session (2000 BST)
TV Channel: ITV4
Semi-Final (Best of 21 legs)

Two Matches

Final (Best of 21 legs)

Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

How the players qualified and seedings

The 32-player field for the European Championship was finalised on Sunday following the International Darts Open, which was the fourth European Tour event in a shortened 2020 season.

Victory in Riesa for Cullen, as he picked up the second European Tour win of his career, means that he will be the top seed for the European Championship as the winner of the 2020 European Tour Order of Merit.

The Bradford ace will take on William O'Connor in Thursday's first round, with the Irish star - a former World Cup finalist - qualifying as 33rd on the European Tour Order of Merit, with Glen Durrant absent following his positive Covid-19 test last week.

Cross will be the 13th seed as he defends the title he claimed in 2019 while four-time European Champion Michael van Gerwen is the fifth seed having reached two of the four finals.

Gerwyn Price, who won the season-opening Belgian Darts Championship, was pipped to top seeding by Cullen and although he's in the opposite half of the draw to MVG, he could meet 15th seed Peter Wright in round two!