Regular in Round 3: Ricardo Pietreczko! For the third time in a row, the Hanover-based Hertha fan will be at Alexandra Palace after the holidays, and his professional career won’t last much longer than that. His opponent on Saturday afternoon, however, is a newcomer: Harrysson is at a disadvantage against Pietreczko in terms of advancing to the round of 16, according to the best betting providers.
Although even Robert Marijanovic and other TV experts are predicting that Pikachu can almost be counted on to advance to the third round, the after-Christmas round has always been hotly contested. Two years ago, the world number 33 delivered a stunning performance against Callan Rydz, twelve months ago he had to overcome the hugely talented Gian van Veen, and before Christmas he had to survive a match dart from Chizzy. The fact that Pietreczko announced afterwards that he hadn’t even noticed it doesn’t undo it.
The dart tip just outside the double 16 kept Germany’s number 2 alive. After the coin flip, Harrysson vs. Pietreczko is now the bookies’ favorite. However, there are still reasonable arguments for betting on Pikachu in the Darts World Championship.
A weighty argument is that in Harrysson vs. Pietreczko, the tip on Ricardo is now rated at odds well above 1.60, even though the European Tour winner from Hildesheim in 2023 has the stronger double rate. Pikachu is about three percent better in check-out compared to last year and is also a specialist in stage matches and situations under maximum stress. The way he absorbed his opponent’s checked 123 in the final set of his duel with Chisnall and took advantage of the break opportunity that presented itself shortly afterwards was impressive.
Some darts fans may be puzzled by the fact that in Harrysson vs. Pikachu, the prediction is for more 180s on the part of the man who did not throw a maximum in round 2. Admittedly, these Darts World Championship odds can only be described as an “underdog chance,” but odds of almost 4.00 are by no means justified when an established Tour Card holder meets a Swede who has had the occasional taste of professional competition but still finds himself at home on the Challenge Tour.
Two arguments support this tip: On the one hand, Pietreczko’s first dart against Chisnall was remarkably poor, which is unlikely to happen twice in a row on Saturday, and on the other hand, the world number 33 already scored as many 180s as Harrysson in round 1, even though the latter was able, or rather had to, play a few more legs in his surprise victory over Ross Smith.
Andreas Harrysson – Ricardo Pietreczko Head-to-head comparison / H2H statistics
The head-to-head comparison between the two players is still completely untarnished, which is not surprising given Andreas Harrysson’s lack of professional status. However, the Swede is currently not far from securing his Tour Card. Victories in round 3 and the round of 16 against Zonneveld or Clayton would be enough to officially secure the Tour Card.
Under these circumstances, there would probably be more H2H duels. The two players are still relatively unfamiliar with each other, so when asked about Harrysson, Pikachu joked about his opponent’s beard and added with a wink that he might be allowed to touch it on Saturday.
Both professionals definitely have one strength in common: a penchant for big checkouts. Harrysson has already shown this quality in previous rounds (146 against Ross Smith, 141 vs. Sakai), while Ricard’s highest checkout in this World Championship so far was 120 in the opening leg against Chizzy.
Andreas Harrysson – Ricardo Pietreczko Tip
When it comes to darts and sports betting in general, it is important to interpret statistics correctly. For example, the check-out rate can be compared without any problems, but the annual average cannot. Harrysson played against weaker opponents on average than Pietreczko on the Challenge Tour, which led to more legs that he had to finish himself. This reduces the average, so that the slightly more than three points less on average have less influence than if two Tour Card holders were compared with each other. This should be taken into account in the betting odds between Harrysson and Pietreczko.
All in all, however, the favorite role is correctly assigned, not least because of the preference for stage matches, so that in our opinion the chance of an all-German quarterfinal between Schindler and Pietreczko is not (yet) destroyed on Saturday afternoon. Unlike last year, Pietreczko spent the holidays in Germany and can fly back to Ally Pally with confidence.
