In an otherwise quiet week, The Gentle Mensur Suljovic saw off Ian ‘Diamond’ White in the final of the latest Players Championship event, which took place in Barnsley at the weekend. He did so in spite of White checking out for a nine darter to take the match to 5-5.
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Suljovic averaged 97 in the final and gradually took control of the match before sealing the event with a 109 checkout in the deciding leg, giving the Austrian Darts Championship winner his second tournament of the season.
Earlier on in the afternoon, Rob Cross also scored a nine darter, but the day’s standout performance came when Suljovic took on Glen Durrant in the fourth round. Winning 6-2 while averaging a stunning 112.6, The Gentle moved on to Cristo Reyes in the quarter-finals and Jonny Clayton, where he completed a 102.3 average during his 7-5 semi-final triumph.
Saturday’s Players Championship went the way of Daryl Gurney, who finally nailed his first title of the year. He defeated Nathan Aspinall 8-5 in the final and had previously seen off the likes of Michael Smith and Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright.
Gibraltar Darts Trophy Betting Tips
Up next for our heroes is the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, which is the 13th of 13 2019 European Tour events and runs from Friday September 27 through Sunday 29.
Friday’s first-round features the 32 qualifiers competing across two sessions at the Victoria Stadium, with a high-quality field including some former European Tour winners, while the big boys join in the action when we reach the last 32.
Michael van Gerwen returns to action having sat out the past fortnight to go on a family holiday, but he wasn’t about to miss his annual victorious trip to the rock. This, after all, is a competition Mighty Mike has won in 2015, 2016 and 2018. At the time of writing, Mighty Mike is available at a best price of 11/8 through Betway.
As ever, Rob Cross, 9/1, and Peter Wright, 10’s, are considered the next most likely victors, but neither win enough to really justify wasting your money on week in week out. Cue Cross win.
On that note, don’t rule out Ian White, who came runner up last week. Diamond has taken down two European Tour events so far already this season while making the final in another two. He has also been served the good fortune of avoiding van Gerwen’s side of the draw and so he cannot meet MVG until the final.
Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith, who shouldn’t be discounted himself, provides the main threat on that side of the draw and the pair could meet head-on in Sunday’s third round. Smith is in lousy form, though, and is priced at 16/1. White, on the other hand, looks like good value at the same price, especially with each-way terms being ½ of the odds. Last week’s champion, Mensur Suljovic can be picked up for 20’s. Others in the field are available.
Gibraltar Darts Trophy Schedule of Play
Friday September 27
- Wessel Nijman v Darren Webster
- Krzysztof Kciuk v Kirk Shepherd
- Ryan Joyce v Matt Clark
- Cor Dekker v HNQ3
- Ryan Meikle v Paul Rowley
- Justin Pipe v Kim Huybrechts
- Carl Wilkinson v HNQ4
- Steve Beaton v Tony Newell
- Jeffrey de Zwaan v Steve West
- William O’Connor v Chris Dobey
- Keegan Brown v Danny Noppert
- HNQ2 v Michael Rosenauer
- Dimitri Van den Bergh v Scott Taylor
- Darius Labanauskas v Jose De Sousa
- Robert Thornton v HNQ1
- Ritchie Edhouse v Jamie Hughes
Saturday, September 28
Second Round
- Nathan Aspinall v Joyce/Clark
- James Wade v Meikle/Rowley
- Krzysztof Ratajski v Beaton/Newell
- Jonny Clayton v Pipe/Huybrechts
- Rob Cross v Kciuk/Shepherd
- Daryl Gurney v Wilkinson/HNQ4
- Dave Chisnall v De Zwaan/West
- Michael Smith v Brown/Noppert
- Ian White v HNQ2/Rosenauer
- Jermaine Wattimena v Van den Bergh/Taylor
- Mensur Suljovic v Nijman/Webster
- Michael van Gerwen v Labanauskas/De Sousa
- Peter Wright v Dekker/HNQ3
- Joe Cullen v Edhouse/Hughes
- Glen Durrant v O’Connor/Dobey
- Gerwyn Price v Thornton/HNQ1
Sunday, September 29
- Third Round
- Evening Session (1915 local time, 1815 BST)
- Quarter-Finals
- Semi-Finals
- Final
GLANCE AT GIBRALTAR DARTS TROPHY
Venue: Victoria Stadium
Dates: Thursday 27.09.2019 – 29.09.2019
Format: Best of 11, 13 and 15 legs
Current Champion: Michael van Gerwen
Where To Watch: PDC TV
When To Watch: 1200 BST, 1800 BST