Riesa round 1 thoughts

Just going to very quickly list all the projections I have for now - here we've clearly got some complete unknowns, so hard to call, but as we're likely to see severe odds on prices for their opponents (thanks for rigging this round PDC) I doubt we miss much of value. I'll have a quick look at the qualis but don't expect to see a great deal. Numbers will go in short - medium - long - composite sample sizes with the Pro Tour player's numbers being listed.

Nijman/Szaganski - 83 - 83 - 80 - 82

Rydz/Vandenbogaerde - 83 - 74 - 70 - 76

Edhouse/Krivka - No data. Krivka was averaging low 80's, picked up to 88 in the final against Kciuk but that was a step up in opponent.

Menzies/Knopf - No data. Not awful, got a couple in the high 80's and did push one round up to 97. Didn't beat anyone better than Eidams though.

Gilding/O'Connor - 51 - 50 - 52 - 51

Woodhouse/Campbell - 48 - 52 - 57 - 52

van Veen/Goyer - No data. Goyer only crept into the 80's once, and that was by one dart. Everything else in the 70's. Real lucky run to get here.

Searle/Labanauskas - 88 - 87 - 85 - 87

Wattimena/Sedlacek - 71 - 64 - 60 - 65

Pietreczko/Ratajski - 15 - 31 - 36 - 27

van Barneveld/Klingelhoefer - Six legs of data, from Gurney smashing him 6-0 in this event last year. He averaged 75 then, averages in the quali weren't terrible, only just below 80 in the first then above 80 throughout with a peak just below 90 in the semi against Unterbuchner.

Smith/Tricole - 65 - 79 - 72 - 72

van Duijvenbode/Springer - 57 - 55 - 61 - 58

Schindler/Lovely - 70 - 67 - 69 - 69

de Decker/Klose - 100 - 76 - 80 - 78 (ignoring the short sample as that comes from just one match for Klose)

Cullen/Owen - 80 - 66 - 57 - 68

So in terms of notes, I can't see any of the players we don't know about really. Maybe Krivka can hang around for a bit, the qualifier is tougher than the domestic one if only because there's two more matches that need winning and Edhouse isn't the worst seed he could have faced. Maybe Knopf is better but Menzies is better again than Edhouse I think. Goyer's probably a 6-0 job, Klingelhoefer might be able to keep things interesting against Barney once in a blue moon but probably not. Worth noting that Lovely's stats are pretty much all from 2025, so while Schindler's data will change, Lovely's doesn't really with just a couple of added Challenge Tour games. Klose is the opposite, we have plenty from 2024 but nothing really from 2025, just his previous Euro Tour appearance. The mid range sample is also a bit short but there's just enough and it doesn't change the equation that much. Probably the notable ones where we've got real form changes are Cullen, where he's started out 2025 pretty hot and Owen not so much, and then Pietreczko, where while Krzysztof is red hot in 2025, Pietreczko's having another bit of a stinker start to the season much like last year.

I'll be placing my bets later, if any, there's only really a couple where there's been anything of note matched at this stage (the Gilding and Woodhouse games), the others are basically nothing or only a few quid right now.