Damon Heta feels that the bookmakers are too easily swayed by hype surrounding certain players, questioning why Wessel Nijman is such short odds to win the World Darts Championship.
Heta won his Alexandra Palace opener on Saturday, beating Connor Scutt 3-1 to book a third round meeting with Luke Woodhouse.
The Australian was the seeded player against Scutt, but says he felt like the underdog due to the hype around his opponent after an impressive 3-0 win over Ben Robb which saw him average over 101.
The world number nine thinks recent performances are given too much weight by the bookies, noting that 24-year-old Nijman was fifth favourite to win the World Championship after impressive Pro Tour displays recently, but with very little major experience.
‘I think a lot of people like to see what they want to see. And there’s a lot of hype on social media, I mean like Wessel Nijman is what? Fifth favourite? Ha! Is he? What’s he won?’ Heta said after beating Scutt.
‘It’s things like that. Not taking it away from the kid, 107 average in the group stage [of the Grand Slam of Darts] and not get through, that’s very unlucky. A great player and all that as well.
‘But that’s pretty much what it is as well, it’s form leading up and all that. Connor Scutt obviously made it to the quarter [finals of the Players Championship Finals] he is playing well, 100 average, this and that. He’s got a great head on his shoulders there’s no two ways about it. But I just felt like I have been in this situation before.
‘It’s like the me and Josh Rock thing. Opposite times it was me against [Joe] Cullen. Cullen was the underdog against me and yet he was the higher ranked player, and sure enough he beat me a lot of times as well. It feels like that situation, that’s how I felt tonight.’
Heta has spoken out on this topic before, when he played Josh Rock in the 2023 World Matchplay and was not the betting favourite despite being the seed facing a qualifier.
After beating Rock in Blackpool, Heta said: ‘Man I’ve won two pro tours, I’m doing well on the Euro Tour and I’m not even favourite. I don’t know what he’s won this year. It’s just fuel for the fire.’
Heta was impressive against Scutt, dropping the first set but then hitting form to win nine of the next 11 legs and power to victory.
The Heat missed double 12 for a 9-darter and, although delighted to win, missing out on the £60,000 bonus was bothering him.
‘A bit disappointed I didn’t hit double 12, disappointed the crowd, disappointed myself,’ he said. ‘No, at the end of the day it was all about the win, but I was very frustrated.’
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