Cazoo Masters

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This is the last event before the Premier League starts in February

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Traditionally the curtain raiser for the new darting season, this year's Masters feels a little different - as we've already had the World Series events in Bahrain and Denmark, won by Michael Smith and Peter Wright respectively. Here are my thoughts on a couple at bigger prices who could walk away with the trophy and £65k winners cheque.

 

Since the tournament was expanded to the top 24 players in the World, we've seen the very top players get overshadowed by a couple of outsiders. This could be due to the PDC announcing that the winner of the Masters gets a spot in the upcoming Premier League, so maybe more incentive for players who haven't already guaranteed a spot in the PL to take this event more seriously. I'm hoping that trend continues as I've picked out a couple of players who probably haven’t done enough yet to be considered PL picks for 2023.

 

1pt e/w Ross Smith (66/1 General)

From the top half of the draw I'm taking Ross Smith to continue his excellent form. Smith picked up the European Championship title back in October, playing some outstanding darts with some unbelievable 180 hitting. He continued that form into the World Championship where he was a touch unlucky to lose in the third round to Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-3, in a final sudden-death leg. There were 31 180s hit during that match, a record for a best of 7 set match, with Smith hitting 19, also a record. 'Smudger' has been handed a pretty tough draw in this tournament, he's got Damon Heta first up, followed by World Champion Michael Smith in the second round. He's then seeded to meet Danny Noppert and Gerwyn Price en route to the final, but this tough draw is reflected in his attractive odds of 66/1. If Smith can continue to score like he has been, he's going to be a match for anyone this weekend.

 

1pt e/w Dimitri van den Bergh (33/1 PaddyPower / Coral)

From the bottom half of the draw I'm going for Dimitri van den Bergh. It maybe easy to forget that the Belgian was a semi-finalist at the World Championship earlier this month, seeing off Lourence Ilagan, Krzysztof Ratajski, Kim Huybrechts and Jonny Clayton, before running into Michael van Gerwen. Since then Dimi was involved in both World Series events earlier this month, putting in a disappointing performance in Bahrain, but looking much more like himself in Copenhagen. 'The Dreammaker' has Gary Anderson in the first round followed by another former World Champion in the second round, in the shape of Rob Cross. You’re never quite sure how serious Anderson takes his darts these days, and Cross stated his dislike for this tournament in a recent interview - so maybe van den Bergh has the most motivation to go well from this section of the draw.

 

In the last couple of years we've seen Jonny Clayton and Joe Cullen pick up this title, with Mervyn King and Dave Chisnall making the final. I'm hoping that Ross Smith and Dimitri van den Bergh can continue the trend of outsiders going deep in this event.