It’s been a month since Rob Cross dazzled the darting world when beating Phil Taylor in the final of the World Championship. The Englishman is back for a shot at the Darts Masters which kicks off this Friday night at Milton Keynes, but standing in his way is defending champion Michael van Gerwen. The Dutch master was upset by Cross at the World’s, but rest assured he’ll be fighting tooth and nail to win another major title this week. It’s not just about those two players as any number of the 16 players could take home the title.
Darts Masters 2018 tip: Rob Cross
It’s tough to go against the in-form player at the moment. Cross (4/1 at Ladbrokes) has won nine of his last 10 matches and during that stretch he won the 2018 World Darts Championship. Having only turned professional in 2017, Cross has rocketed up to #3 in the world rankings and he doesn’t seem like the type to slow down. Many bettors predicted that Michael van Gerwen should be the next great darts player, and he is, but Rob Cross signaled his intent to become the best British talent since Adrian Lewis.
Cross gets a relatively easy Round 1 match against Ian White, someone he has beaten in both games to date and he won comfortably by 6-2 the last time they met. He’s a great value pick this week and you won’t get 4/1 in many more tournaments for Rob Cross this year.
Darts Masters 2018 value tip: Peter Wright
We’re not sure Peter “Snakebite” Wright deserves the lack of respect currently being shown by bookmakers. The Scottish pro didn’t play his best darts against Jamie Lewis at the World’s, but he’s better than that and he doesn’t usually take long to recover from a defeat. He looked more than capable of winning a tournament when beating the likes of Gary Anderson and Alan Norris at the Grand Slam of Darts. He will again face Norris in the opening round of the Darts Masters and that’s a good sign for bettors looking to invest with Peter Wright. Wright hasn’t lost to Norris in three previous meetings and Wright’s tournament odds of 8/1 will likely shorten following that win. There’s good value on offer with Wright, who can average well above 100 when he’s on his game.
Darts Masters upset tip: Mensur Suljovic
It feels weird calling Mensur Suljovic an upset chance, but he’s paying 40/1 with bookmakers. The fun-loving Austrian scored his debut major win when taking out the Champions League in September and since then he has been in solid form. He went deep in the Grand Prix before losing to Simon Whitlock in a close 4-3 contest. Following that he showed great darting form when beating four consecutive opponents in the Grand Slam before succumbing to Gary Anderson in the final.
Losing 0-4 to Dimitri van den Bergh in the World Championships wasn’t the plan, but Mensur is quality at best and he won’t let that performance get him down. His first-round match against Michael Smith will be a tough introduction to this tournament, but Smith is a quick-throwing player who will get frustrated by the tempo of Suljovic. This is where Suljovic gets his advantage over many players and he’s far too good to be at 40/1 this week. Darts Masters 2018 Round 1 matches
Friday:
- Chisnall vs. R. van Barneveld
- M. Suljovic vs. M. Smith
- R. Cross vs. I. White
- P. Wright vs. A. Norris
Saturday:
- Whitlock vs. J. Wade
- D. Gurney vs. G. Price
- G. Anderson vs. B. van de Pas
- M. Van Gerwen vs. K. Huybrechts