Will Pietreczko throw the defending champion out of the European Championship?

In Hildesheim “Pikachu” still caused a sensation with his title win at the German Darts Championship, now the native Berliner is facing the next big event: the European Darts Championship 2023 in Dortmund. The tournament starts with a real test against defending champion Ross Smith. Our Pietreczko vs. Ross Smith tip aims at a surprise of “Pikachu”

Although the match against a player like Smith, who recently also won the Players Championship 28 and thus mastered the dress rehearsal before the European Championship, will not be a foregone conclusion, we believe that Ricardo Pietreczko has a lot to gain at the European Championship. Our assessment is supported by the strong double quota of the 29-year-old: 42,94% in the checkouts – the fourth best value this year!

In favor of the – by now – Nuremberg player is also the fact that the defending champions in the European Darts Championship in the last four years were eliminated in the first round. It’s quite possible that the negative series will continue with Ross Smith as well. A Pietreczko vs. Smith prediction on it has value, as Pikachu has already brought in good results in the direct duel in the past.

Pietreczko – statistics & current form

Ricardo Pietreczko – the new star in the German darts sky! With his impressive coup at the German Darts Championship 2023 the 29-year-old – currently ranked 50th in the PDC – caused a big surprise just two months before the World Darts Championship at the “Ally Pally”. After all “Pikachu” eliminated elite players like Wright and van Gerwen on his way to the title.

After two first round defeats at the 4 PC events in the previous week against players like Klose (5:6) and Campbell (4:6) “Pikachu” started again at the Players Championship 27. It was only in the semi-finals that Pietreczko lost out to a player like Szaganski and missed out on a place in the final.

“Pikachu” only achieved a manageable average of 89,38 while his opponent Szaganski threw an average of 96,91 and became champion in the following final. In the Players Championship 28 Pietreczko also had an impressive run, the GDC Champion 2023 even played averages above the 100 mark.

Pikachu unpredictable – even realistic title chances?

The more surprising was the fact that “Pikachu” failed in the quarterfinals against a player like Mickey Mansell – at the GDC 2023 Pietreczko still won against that player with 6:4. An average of 88,43 only just prevented a “White Wash” – the super-GAU for every darts pro.

Ricardo Pietreczko has an average of 93.64 across all competitions this calendar year. By comparison, a player like Michael van Gerwen has an average of 98.19 in 2023. If “Pikachu” takes the recent momentum from the last few weeks with him, the up-and-coming shooting star can be expected to do a lot at the European Championship.

Against a player like Smith, it’s not just a high average that will set the tone, but also the Berlin-born player’s double rate. How strong “Pikachu” presents himself in the checkouts was already impressively proven at the GDC 2023. The 29-year-old even had a 100% checkout rate in the final against Wright: 8 out of 8!

Ross Smith – Statistics & current form

Ross Smith has mastered the dress rehearsal before the title defence at the European Darts Championship 2023 in Dortmund. The Englishman successfully prevailed in the Players Championship 28 in Barnsley and tanked up self-confidence before the tournament start this week. One of the success factors was the high average of the Englishman.

The “Smudger” played almost throughout with a score average above the 100 mark. In the final against Heta, Smith achieved an average of 104.68, almost breaking his 108.14 from the round of 16 match against Zonneveld. With a broad chest Smith now approaches the title defense at the European Championship and also wants to end the curse of last year’s champions.

In the last four years the defending champion had to say goodbye in the first round of the European Darts Championship. In 2021 Wright failed against Hempel and had to pack his bags with a 3:6. In 2022 Cross as last year’s champion was eliminated by Wade in the first round

File Smith at H2h vs. Pietreczko?

For Ross Smith the first round match against Ricardo Pietreczko will be the first match against a German player since the bitter defeat against Clemens (4:6) at the German Darts Championship 2023. In this calendar year the “Smudger” already met Pietreczko twice.

In the Players Championship 8 with a 3:6 defeat, six months later he got revenge with a 6:2 win in the Players Championship 19. Nevertheless the H2h remains even, which is why it’s risky to make a prediction on the supposed favorite from England in Pietreczko vs.

In the ranking of players with the highest points average in this calendar year Smith is currently on the 13th place. The “Smudger” has already hit 180 450 times this year. Consequently, it is not at all outlandish to bet on Smith hitting the “180” more often than Pietreczko in Friday’s match. The special betting option is sometimes available at Betano.

Pietreczko – Smith Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

This is the fifth time these two players have met. So far the H2h is balanced. Both darts professionals come to two wins each. This year Smith and Pietreczko met twice on the PDC Tour. “Pikachu” prevailed 6:3 in the first duel and so reached a PC semi-final for the first time. But the most recent showdown saw a 6-2 win for Ross Smith.

Pietreczko – Ross Smith Tip

The match between Ricardo Pietreczko and Ross Smith is one of the big highlights in the first round of the European Darts Championship 2023 in Dortmund. Although Smith starts as defending champion into the competition, opponent Pietreczko is by no means to be underestimated. Already at the German Darts Championship 2023 “Pikachu” caused a sensation and won the title after coups against Wright, MVG & Co.

If Pietreczko can deliver his desired performance, the native Berliner can be expected to do well at the European Darts Championship 2023. A win against the “Smudger” would not be a big surprise statistically, because: In the last four years the defending champions have always been eliminated in the first round at the European Championship.

We place our Pietreczko vs Ross Smith betting odds at 2.12 on a win for “Pikachu”. The best odds for this are currently offered by Betano. It would be the third win in the fifth H2h against the Englishman. For our prediction, we use five out of ten possible units.