Surprise Sherrock against Kuivenhoven?
The “Queen Of The Palace” returns to action this weekend as she takes to the stage against Maik Kuivenhoven in the Dutch Masters in Amsterdam. The 27-year-old Englishwoman has not been able to find her feet since her high-flying performance at the 2021 Grand Slam and has lagged behind the great expectations.
It is therefore not at all surprising that Sherrock vs. Kuivenhoven is classified as an underdog according to the betting odds. A win for “The Queen Of The Palace” currently offers odds of up to 2.75. If the Dutchman wins, on the other hand, odds of only 1.40 are being paid out.
Unlike Sherrock, who missed out on a Tour Card this year, Kuivenhoven has featured on the PDC Tour so far and has already built up some confidence against the elite. The Dutchman, currently without a nickname on the road, has already defied players like Cullen, van Duijvenbode and Wade in recent months.
Fallon Sherrock has lost four of her last five matches. The last time the “Queen Of The Palace” stood on the big stage it was a 6:10 defeat against Smith in the Nordic Darts Masters. Sherrock had previously eliminated Labanauskas from the competition with a 6-1 win.
Sherrock – Statistics & current form
Just six months ago Fallon Sherrock caused a sensation at the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts, shaking up the tournament with her quarter-final appearance. Only against Peter Wright the flight of fancy of the “Queen Of The Palace” came to an end. Sherrock lost 13:16 against the Scot and had to pack her bags.
Since then Sherrock not only failed in the World Darts Championship but also missed a Tour Card in the qualifiers and was therefore not represented in the PDC tournaments. Only at the Masters the Englishwoman was allowed to play against the elite of the PDC this year – but till now without any noteworthy success.
In the United States Sherrock was already eliminated in the first round. But in the Nordic Masters in Denmark she won the first round against Darius Labanauskas. In the second round Sherrock lost the match against top seed Michael Smith with 6:10.
Enough potential to beat Kuivenhoven?
There’s a doable hurdle for Sherrock in the tournament opener at the Dutch Masters in Amsterdam. The Englishwoman will face world No. 52 Maik Kuivenhoven in the first round, the round of 16 of the Dutch Masters.
Although the Dutchman has not celebrated the best results in recent weeks, Sherrock is rated as an outsider against Kuivenhoven. For a bet on the “Queen Of The Palace”, the bookmakers are currently offering quotes above the 2.00 mark. The checkout odds of the Englishwoman will be decisive.
At the last Masters in Denmark, her poor doubles rate was her undoing. Against Smith Sherrock hit only six of 23 checkouts. If the Englishwoman can improve that, a surprise in the tournament opener of the Dutch Masters cannot be ruled out
Kuivenhoven – Statistics & current form
Maik Kuivenhoven has had a mixed year so far and has yet to record any major successes on tour. At the Players Championship the Dutchman remained mostly harmless and reached the quarterfinals at the PC14 in Wigan as his best tournament result so far. Among others, Kuivenhoven had eliminated Cullen from the competition on his way there.
So the defeat against John O’Shea at the PC14 was all the more surprising. Since then, Kuivenhoven has not found his way back to success and has lost three of his last five matches. The last time was almost a week ago at the PC17 in Niedernhausen, where Kuivenhoven lost 5:6 in the best-of-11 against Nathan Aspinall.
Before that, Kuivenhoven had defeated Justicia 6:5 in the first round. A close result also tends to be obvious in the tournament opener of the Dutch Masters. After all, Kuivenhoven hasn’t won a match by a margin of two legs or more since his 6-2 win over Cullen in May 2022.
A supposed must-win against Sherrock?
In five of the last six matches Kuivenhoven has played at least nine legs. It is quite possible that in the best-of-11 against Fallon Sherrock the mark of nine legs will be cracked as well. Given the Dutchman’s recent run of form, betting on that is definitely worthwhile.
Bettors who want to bet on the Dutchman in Sherrock vs. Kuivenhoven can currently get odds of 1.40 on Kuivenhoven’s success. However, one of the two players should bow out of the competition in the quarter-finals at the latest, as James Wade, seeded fourth, will probably be waiting in the next round.
Sherrock – Kuivenhoven Direct Comparison / H2H Record
Fallon Sherrock and Maik Kuivenhoven are meeting for the first time ever. That doesn’t make predicting the winner any easier.
Sherrock – Kuivenhoven Tip
If experience on the tour is anything to go by, Kuivenhoven currently has the edge over Sherrock. In contrast to the Englishwoman who failed to qualify for a Tour Card, the Dutchman has played numerous tournaments against elite players on this year’s PDC Tour and gained a lot of confidence.
Sherrock on the other hand flew under the radar during the year and only appeared in the US Masters and the Nordic Masters. At the Masters in the United States, the “Queen Of The Palace” failed miserably in the first round. On the other hand, she had a clear first round win against Labanauskas at the Nordic Masters a few weeks ago.
It was only in the following round that Sherrock had to bow out of the competition against top seed Smith. If the Englishwoman builds on her strong performances at the Nordic Masters while also tweaking her poor throw rate on doubles, there are realistic chances of a surprise coup against Kuivenhoven.
We see value in the high odds on an underdog win by the “Queen Of The Palace” and therefore dare to predict Sherrock vs. Kuivenhoven at odds of 2.75 on the Englishwoman. For this we use five units.
