Blog - 2022 Dutch Darts Championship Day 2

Wim Blokpoel -

It was a cold saturday morning, as we went back to the darts. The Germans and Belgians were still in front of us, and still very desperate to get signatures and flights from the players. I noticed fhat the crowd wasn't very big considering it was a saturday, and we started with Polish Krzysztof Ratajski up against Andrew Gilding. Ratajski always played well when I visited the World Series Finals in Amsterdam, and he wasn't too bad in Zwolle but Gilding once again impressed, and won 6-4! Ryan Searle was up next, and was the first player not to give a handshake, but a fistbump which I totally understand, as it might prevent people hurting your hand at the walk-on. Searle managed to beat Ross Smith 6-3.

At the walk-on, a guy came to me and said he knew me from twitter (my name was at the back on my dartsshirt). It was very fun that someone recognized me while I had no idea who he was! Australian number one Damon Heta then took on Scott Waites, and surprisingly it wasn't a very good game! It was Heta who won it, but as his walk-on song says: things can only get better! Next we had big Boris Krcmar, who I did manage to get a handshake from now, who played Dimitri van den Bergh. Krcmar gained more and more Dutch fans, and he seemed to enjoy that! It was a very close game, and missed doubles cost an out of form Van den Bergh as Krcmar won 6-5, to the delight of a part of the crowd, but the Belgians weren't too happy as their last player went out. 

Up next was Nathan Aspinall, taking on Daniel Larsson. Aspinall isn't fully recovered yet, and perhaps that's why there was an upset as Larsson beat him 6-4! A shorter game was Callan Rydz against Brendan Dolan, as Rydz stormed into a 6-1 victory! Finally a Dutchman came next in this session: Danny Noppert who was up against Martin Schindler. Quite some Germans in the vrowd here, as there were just a little more people screaming 'Danny Noppert' than 'Martin Schindler'. As expected, this game delivered and it went the full 11 legs. That last leg was won by Noppert, who averaged over 98 while Schindler was the first player in the tournament to average over a ton. Talking about that, Dave Chisnall averaged well over a ton as he took a 4-0 lead over José de Sousa, who struggled to average above 70 at that point. The Portugese number one woke up though, and made it 4-3 but Chisnall ended up sinning 6-4 with an average of almost 106.

At the dinner break, I noticed I got a second mention from the commentators, as Paul Nicholson told me not to write so many names on my 180 sign, whoops! Back for the saturday evening, and finally we had an almost full crowd although adimittedly a load of them were Danny Jansens' friends and family! Rob Cross started his event against Ryan Meikle, and despite an high 90 average, Cross lost heavily 2-6 thanks to loads of missed doubles. Cross' manager Rab Bain didn't seem happy, and he had every right for that although an in form Cross probably just had a 'bad day at the office'. Masters Champion Joe Cullen also had some problems against Simon Whitlock, and was a bit lucky to even get 5 legs, but the last leg decider was won by 'The Wizzard'. 

Now it was time for the Dutch players! First up Dirk van Duijvenbode, who faced an in form Mickey Mansell. Again it was a difficult game for the seed, but this time it was seeded DVD who won, 6-4. It eas time for the World Champion/World Number One Peter Wright, as always supported by his wife Joanne. He played Jermaine Wattimena, who had his girlfriend, who actually is from Zwolle, with him. Wright wasn't at his best but still won 6-3, as Wattimena said he felt a bit ill afterwards. Game of the night was probably the tasty encounter between Michael van Gerwen and Jelle Klaasen. The crowd seemed to be on Van Gerwen's side, who was also supported by his wife, and for the first time by his daughter. It was a brilliant game, in which MVG averaged 104,7 and won 6-2! In his interview, he brought his faughter sith him on stage, and she was giving kiss hands to the crowd, very cute!

Another big name on stage next in Gerwyn Price, up against Merv King. Price wasn't in form, and didn't produce his A-game this saturday evening either. Neither did King, but he felt over the line 6-5! Game 7 of the night was probably the most important one for the biggest part of the crowd, as their hero Danny 'The Mullet' Jansen came back on stage to take on Michael Smith. Smith was magnificent and averaged almost 106, but Jansen somehow kept finding ways to stay in the game. However, in the end it was Smith who won it 6-4. The crowd didn't even seem to be too upset and were proud of what the young Dutchman showed again. Danny's father Marco even tried to make contact with Smith and congratulate him, 'Bullyboy' didn't hear him though, but Marco did get thumbs up from King when he congratulated him. Marco Jansen even clapped when Smith hit a 180 against his own son in an improtant moment, it really shows what a great man he is!

Anyway, back to the darts as Chris Dobey and Ritchie Edhouse finally came in action. A part of the crowd already went home, surprisingly, as this was actually a great game! Or well, from Dobey mainly who avsraged almost 98 in a convincing 6-1 win!