James Hubbard’s Betting Tips for the UK Open (Day 2) Afternoon Session

• Chris Dobey Most 180s & Win the Match: 21/10 at Bet365

Reigning UK Open Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh came through his 4th round tie 10-6 against an out of sorts Raymond van Barneveld. Dimitri averaged just 86.46 but he didn't need much more than that as the Dutchman averaged 83.

Barney has notoriously struggled over recent years during long days and it was no surprise to see Dimitri come through. The manner of the performance will be a concern for the Belgian though.

Barney wasn't at the races at all and you'd expect the Dimitri to stamp down his authority and send a message to the rest of the field, but that didn't happen. Once again it was quite an underwhelming performance from him and that's been the story of his last 12 months.

Chris Dobey came through against his Premier League rival Stephen Bunting 10-6 with a 95.87 average. I felt he should have been the favourite from the start of that match and it was no surprise to see him get the job done. Dobey will be looking to capitalize on a good start to the season and have another run in a TV Major.

It's extremely difficult to predict how Van den Bergh will play at the moment, he's so hot and cold. This match is first on the Main Stage and the Belgian has always been a better player in front of the cameras so you'd imagine he will play better than he did last night.

Dobey has played well on TV over the last few weeks but hasn't quite got the results. I think that changes today though and he comes through this tie pretty comfortably.

Over 11.5 180s in The Match: 1/1 at QuinnBet

The 180s market looks tremendous value in this match, especially with it being a best of 19 clash with two evenly matched players. Both Ross Smith and Josh Rock had six 180s in their fourth round victories and both are usually two of the biggest maximum hitters in the sport.

I can see this contest being a close one, which gives plenty of opportunities for 180s to be hit. I'd stay away from predicting the match winner as it seems like a coin flip to me, although Rock does seem in better form between the two.

• James Wade to Win: 1/1 at Betfred

Cameron Menzies has recovered well since his mental struggles at the World Championship and has had a solid start to his 2025 season. He skipped the first two Players Championship events of the season but went to Rosmalen where he made it to the final of PC04 losing out to Ryan Searle 8-3.

Menzies averaged over 95 in five of his seven matches played that day and looks in decent form so far in Minehead as well. He produced a wonderful comeback from 5-1 down against Dom Taylor in round 3 before defeating World Matchplay champion Mike De Decker 10-4 in round four.

James Wade knows how to navigate his way through a UK Open and has won this title three times, most recently in 2021. The long days have never seemed to bother 'The Machine' and his stamina will be needed again today.

He won 10-3 against William Borland in round four with a 93.64 average, making it the first time he's progressed past that stage in 2 years. Wade either goes deep in this tournament or goes out early, and the fact he won his first match this time round makes me think it could be a year he has a run.

Menzies won the pairs' previous encounter in the quarter final of Players Championship 4, but this is a different format and I think Wade is much better over longer matches. At 1/1 I just can't ignore that price and I'm banking on the grittiness of the Englishman to see himself through in a tight contest.

• Over 10.5 180s: 11/10 at Paddy Power
• Connor Scutt to Win: 11/10 at Ladbrokes

Connor Scutt was superb in his victory over the well fancied Gerwyn Price. He was 7-2 up before relinquishing that lead and winning a final leg shoot out to come through 10-9. A 99.62 average was another elite performance in a TV Major from 'The Sniper'.

He hasn't had the best of starts to 2025 though and has lost three times in round 1 of the Players Championship events, with his best result being a run to round 3. I don't think he will panic too much though as there has been a lot of expectation on his shoulders and this is remarkably his first season as a PDC Tour Card holder.

The ever reliable Damon Heta has surprisingly seemed a little out of sorts at the start of this season after failing to get past round 4 in any of the Players Championship events so far this year.

He normally dominates in the floor tournaments, but in fairness, there have only been four played so I expect him to get better as the season progresses. A 91 average was good enough to beat a struggling Kim Huybrechts 10-2 in round four and he'll be looking to back up his semi-final run here in 2024.

This will be a close contest between two of the biggest power scorers in the PDC so expect plenty of maximums. I'm surprised this match has been scheduled last on stage 4, but personally I think this will benefit Scutt.

Heta is more experienced on the main stage and may have had a little too much for the Englishman up there, but as it's on the outa boards I think Scutt can come through this tight tussle and put his name into the hat for round six.

• Danny Noppert to Win: 6/5 at Bet365

Rob Cross has had an inconsistent season so far, although it's mainly been extremely positive. Cross has two titles under his belt already this season, with wins at the Dutch Darts Masters and Players Championship 01.

He's started to falter a little lately though, especially in the Premier League losing three of his last four matches, including relinquishing a 5-1 lead against Luke Littler on Night 2. 'Voltage' beat Thomas Lovely 10-4 in the previous round with an 89.75 average and he will know he needs to improve to compete with Noppert today. Cross is a four-time quarter finalist in the UK Open, including back to back QF in the last 2 years.

Danny Noppert, in my opinion, is the most underrated player on the PDC Tour. The Dutchman always seems to be around at the latter stages of tournaments and consistently averages around 96.

Those stats will always be good enough to compete at the top of the sport and his ranking of 12 suggests that. He played well yesterday, coming through a tricky tie 10-2 against Daryl Gurney with a 96.10 average and knows how to win this tournament after lifting the trophy back in 2022.

This will be another tight contest but I think Noppert is the fresher of the two and will have a little too much for Cross. I've said previously that I don't think travelling to Rosmalen was a good idea for the Englishman as the Premier League travel is so relentless and for that reason I expect Noppert to progress to round six.