4 Dutch winners in round 1 German Darts Grand Prix

Wim Blokpoel - Today the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix started in Munich, a third Eurotour event of the year, with 6 Dutchmen in some tasty first round action!

First Dutchman in the afternoon was debutant Berry ‘Bionic’ van Peer who played Sweden’s Daniel Larsson! Van Peer started with some great finishes and took a 3-1 lead, however Larsson fight back and even hit two 12-darts, as Van Peer saw himself go 3-4 down! Van Peer showee his strength though, as he hit a 12-darter himself for 4-4, and then went 5-4 up. In leg 10, Van Peer hit a 126-finish to win it in style, a 6-4 win over Daniel Larsson while averaging over 95: a brilliant Eurotour debut for Berry van Peer who will take on Michael Smith in round 2!

Associate Member qualifier Wesley Plaisier took on another Eurotour debutant: World Trophy winner Jim Williams! At 2-2, Plaisier started to throw some absolutely amazing darts, as he won legs in 13, 12 and 12 darts for a 5-2 lead! Eventually Plaisier manages to win it 6-2, with an average of over 104! It’s probably the biggest win in Wesley Plaisier’s career, and the best performance of the day!! In round 2, Plaisier takes on Joe Cullen! 

In the evening session, we had an all Dutch affair between former UK Open Finalist Vincent van der Voort and former World Matchplay semi-finals Jeffrey de Zwaan!! It was another good game, and everything went with the darts until 4-4. In leg 9 however, Purmerend’s Van der Voort hit an 11-darter to break and go 5-4 up, with the darts for the match. Leidschendam’s De Zwaan showed his fighting spirits though as a 104 finish saw him break straight back at 5-5. In leg 11, it was De Zwaan who managed to get over the line with another Dutch 95+ average! In the last 32, JDZ takes on another UK Open Finalist in Luke Humphries!

For the second Eurotour in a row, Jermaine Wattimena took on Martin Schindler in round 1. Last time it was a 5-6 defeat, and at 2-2 it looked like this game could be as close as that one. However, Schindler woke up and played superb in the next legs, and soon it was 3-5 for ‘The Wall’. Wattimena eventually hit the wall, as he lost 3-6 and goes out of the tournament. He will be back in the next Eurotour in Austria though!

Final Dutchman of the day, was Five time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld who made his first Eurotour appearance since 2019! RVB played against James Wilson, who still suffered from his injury. A 14-darter saw the Dutch Darting Legend take a 3-0 lead, and later Van Barneveld also led 4-0, and even 5-0. A 13 darter to seal the deal as Van Barneveld whitewashed Wilson 6-0!! A great return on the EuroTour, and in round 2 Van Barneveld plays Australian Damon Heta!