3 New Dutch tourcard holders: RVB, Nentjes and Zonneveld!

Wim Blokpoel - Today was a huge day for Dutch Darts as 2021 European Q-school was concluded today. 1 Dutchman secured his tourcard already: Geert Nentjes won on the second day. Berry van Peer got his tourcard for the next 2 years as well by ending in the top 2 of the Development Tour. Today ended as a brilliant day. 5 time champion of the world Raymond van Barneveld needed at least 2 wins to secure his tourcard, and make a comeback. RVB started with a very easy 6-0 win against German Daniel Meyer with an average of almost 94. In the last 64 RVB faced former top 16 player Benito van de Pas. Both Dutchman needed to win this match to stay in with a chance to win their tourcard. It was a very good match, RVB got 5-4 up and then Benito van de Pas missed 1 dart for a 167-finish to make it 5-5, and RVB hit his winning double to win 6-4 with a 96.3 average. In the last 32 RVB was already 99% sure of his tourcard but could make it 100%. He faced another Dutchman who needed a win, this time in Willem Mandigers. RVB absolutely smashed Mandigers, won 6-0 with an average of almost 96. This means RVB earned his tourcard and we’ll see him in his second career in 2021 and 2022. His best match of the day came afterwards in the last 16, where he averaged a 100.1 to beat German Martin Schindler 6-4 despite Schindler averaging 103.3 himself and even hitting a 9-darter against RVB. In the last 8, RVB lost 5-6 to fellow Dutchman 5-6 but all that matters: the comeback is there! YESSSSS!!!

The same player who RVB lost to, needed some wins today to get his tourcard as well. The young talent from Uitgeest, Niels Zonneveld, started his day with a solid 6-3 win and 91 average against Swiss Thomas Junghans, who he played for the second day in a row. In the last 64 Zonneveld had to win again, and so he did: 6-2 against Belgian good old Ronny Huybrechts. In the last 32 Zonneveld had to win to secure his tourcard, he played German Christian Jentschke who needed a win as well. Zonneveld averaged 0.6 points lower than the German but took his chances and still won 6-2, which means Niels Zonneveld has won his tourcard straight back for 2 more years! After he secured his tourcard, Zonneveld also beat Belgian Davyd Venken in the last 16, and as mentioned earlier, in the Quarter-Finals he beat 5 time world champion Raymond van Barneveld 6-5. The semi-finals were succesful for Zonneveld too as he beat German Robert Marijanovic 6-4. The final was the end for Zonneveld as he lost 4-6 to Russian Boris Koltsov despite averaging 2.2 points higher than him. Most important: we have 4 brilliant new tourcard holders, including Berry van Peer, so it’s gonna be another great year for Dutch Darts I can guarantee you!