Will Suljovic beat Soutar?
The Austrian has already taken part in a World Darts Championship 14 times. This week, Mensur Suljovic will now tackle the next big adventure at the “Ally Pally” in London. Already at the start of the tournament the Viennese has the first difficult hurdle in front of him. After all, “The Gentle”, as Suljovic is also called, will meet Alan Soutar, who already played a match in the 2022 World Championship.
Soutar won 3:2 against the outsider Portela in the first round and after his lacklustre performance fixed his entry into the second round of a World Championship for the first time in his career. Before that “Soots” had to retire from two World Championships – both in the BDO – before the end of the tournament.
Nevertheless, after the poor performance at the start of the tournament, there are hardly any arguments to back the Scottish challenger in Suljovic v Soutar. Already in the last round Soutar only narrowly missed a defeat. It is quite possible that this time he lacks the little bit of luck to master the match against Suljovic.
Qualitatively, the Viennese is much stronger than Alan Soutar. It is therefore all the more surprising that the best bookmakers are offering odds of 1.80 on Suljovic vs Soutar for a bet on the Austrian. Especially as Mensur Suljovic as an established elite player is far stronger than the Scottish challenger.
Mensur Suljovic – statistics & current form
At the 2021 Grand Slam Mensur Suljovic had to pack his bags already in the last 16 and after a defeat against Fallon Sherrock he had to say goodbye to the prestigious competition of the PDC. Only one week after the defeat in the GS followed a first round exit in the Players Championship Finals 2021. In both matches Suljovic had no chance.
Against Sherrock the Austrian gave away a clear lead. In the match against Rydz in the PC Finals “The Gentle” disappointed with a miserable average. In the best-of-11 Suljovic only twice threw 140 or more points in seven legs – a score which cost him dearly against Callan Rydz.
Nevertheless, Suljovic’s statistics so far this season mean he is confident heading into the 2022 World Darts Championship. In this calendar year the Austrian has an average of 93,62 per match. The double rate of more than 40% in the last three months was also commendable.
Series of defeats only a snapshot?
If the statistics from the last six months are followed up, Suljovic has realistic chances of reaching the next round at the 2022 World Cup. At the last World Championship Suljovic had to pack his bags only in the third round against Gary Anderson. Before that, the Viennese had won 3:1 against Matthew Edgar in the “Ally Pally”.
Against Anderson, however, “The Gentle” delivered a match on a par for long stretches. In the decisive moments, however, Suljovic lacked the nerve to defeat the 13th seed and two-time Scottish champion.
This time, Mensur Suljovic benefited from the luck of the draw and got a feasible half at the 2022 World Cup. After a win against Soutar, there are also doable hurdles in the following rounds with potential opponents like de Sousa and Aspinall.
Last matches of Mensur Suljovic:
Players Championship Finals
11/26 2021 – Callan Rydz 6 – 1 Mensur Suljovic
Grand Slam of Darts Final Stage
11/18 2021 – Mensur Suljovic 5 – 10 Fallon Sherrock
Grand Slam of Darts Group F
11/16 2021 – Mensur Suljovic 5 – 0 Matt Campbell
11/14 2021 – José de Sousa 5 – 4 Mensur Suljovic
11/13 2021 – Luke Humphries 3 – 5 Mensur Suljovic
Alan Soutar – Statistics & current form
Alan Soutar has appeared in a PDC World Championship for the first time in his current career. Before “Soots” only twice took part in the BDO World Championships. In both cases Alan Soutar had to quit early. In 2011 Soutar was eliminated in the first round of the World Championship, six years the 43 year old had to pack his bags already in the preliminary round.
This time Soutar survived the first round, but already in the second round of the current Darts World Championship 2022 the first test of maturity will come. According to the bookmakers Alan Soutar is even the underdog against Mensur Suljovic. And that although Soutar could defeat players like Wright, van Barneveld and Chisnall in the last months.
Just like Suljovic “Soots” lost two matches in the last two tournaments before the World Championship. At the Players Championship 30 still with a defeat against Smith followed at the PC Finals the next setback against Gurney. The latter was surprising, after all Soutar had a commendable checkout rate of 42.86%.
Will Soutar also knock Suljovic out of the tournament?
“Soots” has flown largely under the radar throughout his career so far. Alan Soutar has not yet celebrated great successes but at least there were some surprises against the elite players of the PDC. Among others Soutar reached a semi-final on the PDC Tour this year.
Bettors who expect the Scot to continue his fairytale at the 2022 World Darts Championship can pick up odds of up to 2.10 on Suljovic vs Soutar for tip 2.
Last matches of Alan Soutar:
World Darts Championship
12/19 2021 – Alan Soutar 3 – 2 Diogo Portela
Players Championship Finals
11/26 2021 – Daryl Gurney 6 – 3 Alan Soutar
Players Championship 30
11/04 2021 – Michael Smith 6 – 3 Alan Soutar
11/04 2021 – Alan Soutar 6 – 4 Ryan Meikle
Players Championship 29
11/03 2021 – Gary Anderson 6 – 3 Alan Soutar
Mensur Suljovic – Alan Soutar Tip
Mensur Suljovic has the edge in terms of experience. Nevertheless, opponent Alan Soutar is not to be underestimated, especially as “Soots” already defied some top-class players of the PDC this calendar year. Among others he even won against Peter Wright, the number two of the Professional Darts Corporation.
Because Soutar didn’t play his best performance at the start of the tournament, the role of outsider against Suljovic is understandable. Encouraging before the match against the Austrian is only the fact that “Soots” could already warm up in the first round of the PDC World Championship 2022. But in his lacklustre performance he only had an average of 89.46.
To master the match against Suljovic Alan Soutar will have to improve a lot in the second round of the World Championship 2022. We tend to rate Suljovic with his experience on the big stage far stronger than “Soots”. Therefore, we place our bet on Suljovic vs. Soutar at odds of 1.80 with a stake of six units on the Austrian.
