Final for Klaasen in WDF Romanian Classic

Wim Blokpoel - This weekend the WDF went to Romania for the Romanian Classic and the Romanian Open! Quite some Dutch players participated in the events.

Romanian Classic

In the women Romanian Classic Veerle Hamelink was the only Dutch participant, but she lost her first game 2-4 to Oana Cimpoca. There were more Dutch participants in the men event! 8 of them went into the last 64. There, Erik van Manen lost 0-4 to Brian Woods but Dutch Open winner Jelle Klaasen did beat Graham Harris 4-1. An all Dutch tie was won 4-2 by Moreno Blom over Richard Veenstra, while Chris Landman got edged out 3-4 by Brazilian Diogo Portela. Niels Das and Marco Smit both lost, but Alexander Merkx did win 4-0 over Hutano Dragos with an average of 95,4!

3 Dutchmen in the last 32! Klaasen beat Brian Woods 4-1, Blom beat Jordan Brooks 4-2 and Alexander Merkx beat Gabor Takacs 4-0! So all of them through to the last 16! There, Merkx got edged out 3-4 by Arron Monk, and Blom lost 1-4 to Mike Gillet. Klaasen however had a great game, as he averaged 98,6 and whitewashed Mihaescu Vlad 4-0! In the quarter-finals, Klaasen averaged 98,6 again in a 4-0 whitewash! This time over Greece’s Tasos Argy. In fhe semi’s he took on Mike Gillet who he beat 4-2. In the final, Klaasen lost 1-5 to Luke Littler but still another nice result for the Dutch Open champion!

Romanian Open

Next up was the Romanian Open, in the women event Veerle Hamelink once again lost in round 1, this time 0-4 to Sandra Page. 6 men made the last 64 though. Richard Veenstra whitewashed Kostas Pantelidis in that round, while Dylan Methorst got whitewashed 0-4 by Aaron Turner. Jelle Klaasen, Alexander Merkx, Chris Landman and Moreno Blom all went through to the last 32 with a 4-1 win. In that round, Veenstra had another 4-0 win this time over Matyas Rejon. Klaasen averaged 95,4 in a 4-0 win over Balázs Szalai. Merkx did lose 2-4 to Scot Marsh, but Blom edged out Simon Farley 4-3, and Landman beat Vonya Brody Atilla 4-1. 

4 Dutchmen in the last 16, where Veenstra lost 1-4 to Shaun McDonald. Klaasen did whitewash Lee Williams 4-0, Blom edged out Steve Giddings 4-3 and Landman beat Luke Littler 4-3 making it 3 Dutch quarter-finalists! There Klaasen averaged 97,4 but was still edged out 3-4 by Marsh, and in the all Dutch quarter-final it was Blom who beat Lansman 4-2! Moreno Blom did lose his semi-final 2-4 to, once again, Scott Marsh but another great run for him as he’s on course to make his Lakeside debut!