European Championship: Thrilling 1st round evening session

Holly Thackeray | 30.10.2015

Holly Thackeray | October 28, 2015

European Championship

First round evening session

Friday, October 30th

Scheduled for 19.10pm-10.30pm GMT

Hasselt Ethias-Arena, Belgium

Live on ITV4

The darts European Championship is certainly a marathon not a sprint, and there are a host of fantastic fixtures set for the first enthralling day in Belgium.

There’s a two-hour and 40 minute tea break following the opening day’s frantic afternoon session, but the evening roster is more than worth returning for on Friday night.

So, Coral experts bring you the best of the rest from the 1st round and some rather brilliant bets to ward off the winter blues…

Adrian Lewis v Benito van de Pas

Both Big Ben and Jackpot (4/11 match favourite) fell at the first hurdle in the 2014 edition of this tournament and will be looking to better that this time out.

Former champion Lewis looks great value at 15/8 to be King of the oche (player to win match, most 180s and highest checkout. If any of the markets are tied, bets will be settled as losers), especially after his recent Auckland Masters victory. Yet, the Englishman is not infallible as evidenced by his World Grand Prix second round flop, so recent Players Championship finalist Van de Pas may fancy his chances at 21/10 to progress.

Mensur Suljovic v Dave Chisnall

Chizzy (1/2 to win) was another who disappointed in Dublin but, despite his evident promise, in-form sharpshooter Suljovic is a much more tempting price at 13/8 after his recent shock semi-final appearance at the World Grand Prix.

Maximums man Chisnall did narrowly defeat the Gentle in their only previous meeting by a narrow one-leg margin, but may be better value for punters at just 5/4 to clock-up over 3.5 180s.

James Wade v Terry Jenkins

Wade has already won three of his four battles with the Bull in 2015, a player he has faced almost 40 times. Knowing his enemy well then, the Machine’s recent resurgence is reflected in 4/9 odds to ease past his familiar foe.

Though, Jenkins (7/4 to charge to triumph) will not go down without a fight and, as two of the pair’s previous four fixtures have ended 6-3 in Wade’s favour, back another repeat of that result at 9/2.

Gary Anderson v Brendan Dolan

Irish arrowsmith Dolan has enjoyed the rub of the green when jostling with off-colour Anderson (1/5) before, and holds their head-to-head record with eight wins to five. The History Maker is worth a shout at 7/2 then as, although peer the Flying Scotsman has a superior pedigree, the world champion has been undoubtedly poor of late.

Jelle Klaasen v Raymond van Barneveld

Barney is unseeded for this event after struggling recently, but is always worth a stake when his back is against the wall. The Dutchman is 4/6, therefore, to dispatch compatriot Klaasen and claim a much needed scalp.

Veteran Van Barneveld has outfoxed his opponent nine times from 13 before, but it could be a close battle worth backing at 11/2 for the fray to finish 6-5 with the Hague-born hitman victorious.

Phil Taylor v Vincent van der Voort

One of the biggest shocks of the 2015 World Grand Prix was Van der Voort delivering a knock-out blow to British darting legend Taylor in the last 32, with a whitewashing no less.

Pitted against the Dutch Destroyer, decorated giant The Power is 1/5 to make his recent conqueror pay. The Stoke-born superstars is unlikely to make the same mistake twice, but Van der Voort is generous at 7/2 to pounce again if he does.

Michael van Gerwen v Jeffrey de Zwaan

Who would want to be in De Zwaan’s shoes, facing formidable and wounded lion Mighty Mike in the first round? Van Gerwen is 1/10 to get off to a flying start after suffering World Grand Prix final heartache against Robert Thornton.

Competitor and compatriot the Black Cobra (6/1) is just 19 and a recent PDC convert, but will be up against it in Hasselt.

Kim Huybrechts v Mervyn King

In the final first round fixture Belgian home hero is 4/7 to push past The King, though his English opponent narrowly edges their head to heads with five wins to four and has two successive victories when facing The Hurricane, so is worth an 11/8 shout.

See what else is going on in the world of darts

Betting tip: Suljovic is superb at 13/8 to beat Chisnall