6 Dutchmen in quarter-finals Dutch Darts Masters

Wim Blokpoel - Last night the very first PDC Toto Dutch Darts Masters, as a World Series event, was played in the Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam. Round 1 saw 9 Dutchmen with quite some success.

The night was started by Westervoort’s Jermaine Wattimena who took on World Series Finals winner Jonny Clayton. It was a very close game, and at 5-5 it was Clayton who had a poor leg as Wattimena won 6-5 and won his first game on tv for over 2 years! (although he did win a game on board 4 of the UK Open earlier this year, as he said in our interview). A lor of emorions from Wattimena after that game, understandably! Next up was Maik Kuivenhoven who played against Fallon Sherrock. Sherrock didn’t turn up at all, as Kuivenhoven had a very easy 6-1 win and reached his first ever tv quarter-final! But he wants more as he said in our interview: he’s here to win the title!

Jeffrey de Zwaan was up next against James Wade, but loads of missed doubles resulted in a 2-6 defeat for ‘The Black Cobra’. No worries though, the nedt Dutchmen was already waiting for his game! Purmerend’s Vincent van der Voort took on Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price! Van der Voort was 3-4 down, but then a magnificent 102-finish made it 4-4, later it was 5-5 and a 13-darter in the decider gave ‘The Dutch Destroyer’ the victory! As VVDV said in our interview ‘This is what I live for, playing in The Netherlands, next to the Ajax stadium’. 

3 Dutchmen in the quarter-finals already! Up next was Martijn Kleermaker, against US Master Michael Smith. Kleermaker was extremely clinical on the doubles and at 4-4 ‘The Dutch Giant’ hit a 12-darter for a 5-4 lead, and then held throw for a 6-4 win and a fiest PDC tv quarter-final! As Kleermaker said in our interview, he’s ready to get revenge on either Wright or Van Duijvenbode. Ron ‘The Bomb’ Meulenkamp then played Nordic Master Dimitri van den Bergh. Meulenkamp wasn’t at his best, missed some chances and it was a 2-6 defeat for ‘The Bomb’. 

An all Dutch first round followed, between Michael van Gerwen, who just came back after surgery, and UK Open Champion Danny Noppert! Both men started amazing: Noppert won leg 1 in 11 darts, and Van Gerwen followed it with a 141-finish in leg 2! The break of through was for Noppert though, as he took a 4-2 lead. MVG came back to 4-4 though, but at 5-4 it was Noppert who broke throw again, this time in 14 darts, to win it 6-4 with a 98 average! The last game of the night was between ‘Aubergenius’ Dirk van Duijvenbode and World Champion Peter Wright! It was a great game, with both men averaging above 95 despite a lot of missed doubles. But it was DVD’s scoring, including 6 180’s, that gave him the win: 6-3 as we had 6 quarter-finalists tomorrow! Van Duijvenbode will be aiming at a 100+ average tomorrow as he said in our interview!