The final day of the UK Open darts tournament takes place in Minehead on Sunday when the competition plays down from the quarter finals in the afternoon until the champion is confirmed in the evening session.
We already know that with eight players remaining in the tournament we are guaranteed a new name on the trophy and that makes for a potentially exciting day. The quarter finals take place in the afternoon and we’ll preview them but time restrictions will deny us the chance to look at the latter stages of the event.
Stephen Bunting vs Luke Humphries
The opening quarter final is the pick of the four matches as the two big TV event winners of 2024 meet when The Masters champion Stephen Bunting takes on the World Championship winner Luke Humphries in what looks like a cracking match.
These two met at The Masters when Bunting prevailed 10-7 and he’ll be looking for something similar in this one but Humphries looks to have found his mojo again in the last couple of weeks having initially looked a little off form between winning the world title and then. That makes me think that Humphries might turn the tables but the bet which interests me more in this match is for there to be more than 11.5 180s. These two are serial 180 hitters and they have ploughed in the 180s in this tournament so far. You’ve got to think that the way these two are playing this will be a pretty close match and if we get beyond 16 legs that should be plenty of time for these two to average half a dozen 180s each and get this line covered.
Ricky Evans vs Rob Cross
The second of the quarter finals offers up the underdog against one of the favourites battle when Ricky Evans looks to continue what has been a brilliant weekend so far when he goes up against the former world champion Rob Cross.
Evans has never been the most consistent player of all time but he has played well this weekend and if he can perform like he did against Mike De Decker on Saturday afternoon, where he averaged 97.23 then he will have every chance here. The problem is that Evans isn’t really used to the big stage and if he doesn’t get off to a good start then he might fall too far behind. Cross wasn’t brilliant in seeing off Keane Barry on Saturday evening but he certainly wasn’t shabby either but his 105.19 average against Josh Rock in the afternoon on Saturday sets a decent standard. I expect Cross to win this but the bookmakers are all over that so I’ll leave this one alone.
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Damon Heta vs Luke Littler
The third of the quarter final matches sees the Australian number one Damon Heta looking for a place in the semi-final when he takes on the man of the moment Luke Littler, who himself will be aiming to move to within two wins of a first TV ranking title in the PDC.
Littler has made the game look pretty easy at times this weekend but he hasn’t scored like we are used to seeing from him. He only has seven 180s in three matches which is a very low number and the concern would be that we have seen his level drop so far this year when he has had to play on successive days. That will give Heta hope but he has had to come from behind a couple of times this weekend and you wonder how many times he will be able to go to the well and get the wish he needs. You’d imagine Littler might be too good but again the odds reflect that too.
Martin Lukeman vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The last of the quarter finals onto the stage offers up a chance for two men to move into the semi-final of the UK Open and significantly enhance their world ranking when Martin Lukeman, arguably the surprise package of the tournament so far, goes up against Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Van den Bergh has been very impressive in this tournament and has seen off a couple of competent challengers in Brendan Dolan and Jonny Clayton but the standout result of the two was the win for Lukeman over Gary Anderson on Saturday evening when he averaged over 100 in seeing off the form horse of 2024 so far. Lukeman has played very well this weekend but Van den Bergh has offered some nice stuff too so we should be in for a tight game here. I’m not going to bet on this one because these two are my remaining outright picks and whoever wins it will guarantee me a pay out so I’m happy to sit back and watch on and see who not only delivers the place money but who will represent me in the final session of the tournament.
Tips
Back S.Bunting vs L.Humphries – Over 11.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Spreadex
