That's pretty disgusting and shouldn't be allowed. Maybe you'll also see why I'm still drinking the Luke Woodhouse kool-aid, lost to the eventual winner both days. Pesky draws. These couple of events lift de Zwaan into the top 16 of points per turn for the year once we apply a punt out Darren Beveridge minimum leg criteria, considering how average he was until about a month to six weeks ago, it's some going. And while he's not on this list, notice how Arron Monk made a semi final yesterday. He didn't play great by his own admission, but he got some decent draws and took advantage, as opposed to before where he was playing decently but getting done over by the draws. Merge the two together and we could have some fun.
Austria draw is out, we're just waiting for the home nation qualifiers, and some of these averages are not pretty, we've had someone lose with a 47.9 average - and he had the higher average. Let's have a quick look at the draw:
van Gerwen v Bain/Lennon, Webster v Bunting/van den Boogaard - Only really one winner here, but Bunting's putting on a bit of a spurt and could cause van Gerwen some troubles. Patrick van den Boogaard is, to the best of my knowledge, a new name, fairly young but has got through a chunk of the Dutch Open the last two years. Lennon should beat Bain but Jamie's been putting in a bit of a better showing the last few events, so who knows.
Wright v Gilding/Dobey, Clayton v Burger/Kanik - Wright's shown some good spots, that crushing win over Anderson being a peak spot, but Dobey is certainly no mug and that could be a highlight game. Clayton ought to have too much for either opponent, Kanik's probably going to have too much for Burger but may not be able to stay close enough to the Ferret.
Lewis v Portela/Searle, Chisnall v Huybrechts/Aspinall - Can't see Adie having too much of an issue with either opponent, Searle has been a bit quiet but alright statwise, while Portela's been more noticable but not really doing quite enough with his opportunities. The other section's a peach, Chisnall and Aspinall are up there with the best players of the moment while Kim, if he shows up, can certainly compete at that level.
Gurney v Koltsov/Engstrom, Cullen v Webster/van Duijvenbode - Looks a good opening draw for Gurney, Koltsov can hit peaks but doing it for 11 legs against someone of Daryl's quality is a different matter, Engstrom is making a return for the first time since around this time last year where he was outclassed by James Wilson. Cullen similarly ought not to have issues, Mark's seemingly just coasting towards losing his tourcard, while van Duijvenbode at least has an explosive peak that can run off legs and give Joe something to think about.
Price v Smith/Henderson, Evans v Labanauskas/HNQ2 - Tough draw for Gerwyn, Smith and Henderson have fairly comparable games, the big lad perhaps having a slight edge, and either can cause Gerwyn trouble, while Evans has got a bit of a wildcard in Labanauskas, who made the semi finals yesterday without really troubling the scorers, the qualifier is looking like Rasztovits, which'd be a decent opening game.
Suljovic v van Barneveld/Wilson, Wade v King/Petersen - Mensur/Barney ought to be fun, Raymond showing signs of life following his retirement, can't see Mark Wilson troubling him, while Wade should be the favourite but we all know what Mervyn can do. Can't see King having issues with Devon, he's regressed to the mean somewhat after his world championship cameo.
Cross v de Zwaan/HNQ3, Smith v Barilli/Beaton - Let's look at Cross against de Zwaan and go wow, it's a worlds (and Premier League? I forget) rerun so should be a bit spicy regardless of de Zwaan's recent form, which makes it even more fun. Never heard of either of the Austrian guys so assuming 6-0 or there abouts tomorrow. Smith needs a result as he's close to dropping out of the seeds, but Beaton's probably playing some of the best darts of his life and if Smith isn't sharp could easily be dumped out.
White v Hughes/HNQ4, Hopp v Whitehead/Brown - More possible rematches here, White against Hughes having popped up more than once this year. Qualifier might be Hannes Schnier? Nobody that should give Jamie a fright anyway. Second round game will be close as usual, Hopp against Brown could be decent as well if Keegan can get past Conan Whitehead, he should do, the Lakeside quarter finalist hasn't really started well in this PDC stint and it's his first Euro Tour event, at least for this year.
Bets later once the Austrian quali is done, not that bookies will be rushing to price these up, or that we're going to be doing anything than bankering the tour card holders anyway.
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