Recap - 2023 NDB Masters
Wim Blokpoel - Last weekend the NDB hosted a brand new tournament, following the end of the ranking season: the NDB Masters.
Qualified were the Dutch national teams, the NDB season event finalists and wildcards from all the NDB members. We had a Men, Women, Boys and Girls event!
Men
In the men event, the open draw gave us already a ridiculous first round tie: ranking winner Ryan de Vreede up against World Master Wesley Plaisier! Plaisier comfortably won it 4-0. There was another surprising loser in round 1 though, as Ron 'The Bomb' Meulenkamp was edged out by Kevin Mast in a deciding leg.
In the last 64, Dennis van der Ende beat Jerry Hendriks 4-1, while Nigel Lloyd saw off Mario Robbe by the same scoreline. Kay Smeets beat Martijn Dragt 4-1, and Vincent Kamphuis returned to darts with another 4-1 win over Patrick Maat. Dennie Olde Kalter and Ivo Leeksma suffered surprising early exits, while Wesley Plaisier whitewashed Gillian Koehoorn with an average of 98,56 while Mats Gies had the exact same average in a 4-0 win over Nick Crouwel!
In the last 32 the top performancers from round 2 played each other, as Plaisier knocked out Gies 4-1. Moreno Blom lost 2-4 to Kay Smeets, as Wessel Nijman survived matchdarts in a last leg win over Arjan Konterman! In the last 16, Kay Smeets missed absolute loads of matchdarts to beat Berry van Peer, as the Dutch Open Champion somehow went through! World Master Plaisier also survived matchdarts in that round, as he edged out Vincent Kamphuis 4-3. Jarno Bottenberg beat Boys World Champion Bradly Roes 4-1 to reach the last 8, while Wessel Nijman beat Kristiaan de Boer 4-2. The other quarterfinalists were Hendrie van Berkel, Jeremy van der Winkel, Alexander Merkx and Stefan Schröder.
Women
In the women event we also had a ridiculous first round tie thanks to the open draw: Ranking winner Anca Zijlstra against Dutch National Champion and Dutch Open Champion Aileen de Graaf! Despite averaging 9 points lower than De Graaf, it was Zijlstra who won in a last leg decider. Open Rivierenland Finalist Floortje van Zanten surprisingly lost first round to Djamilla Kroon, while Desiree Geel whitewashed Open Barneveld Champion Roos van der Velde 3-0!
In the last 32, Zijlstra had another ridiculous draw as she took on Open Rivierenland Champion and Denmark Open Champion Noa-Lynn van Leuven! It was another deciding leg, and again it was Zijlstra who got the victory! The best performer of this round however was Tineke Kalsbeek who averaged almost 75 in a 3-1 win over Saskia van Zoeren. In the last 16, Priscilla Steenbergen averaged above 80 in a whitewash win over Adriana van Wijgerden-Vermaat! In the same round Desiree Geel edged out Nathalie van Marm 3-2.
Into the quarterfinals, Geel continued her impressive run with a 4-1 win over Dutch Open Quarterfinalist Astrid Trouwborst! Zijlstra won another deciding leg against a tough opponent, this time over Priscilla Steenbergen, while Aletta Wajer whitewashed Sharona Veld. Last semifinalist was Lerena Rietbergen, as she beat Djamilla Kroon 4-1.
Final Stage
Onto the main stage action, as I went to the small room where the big stage and cameras were! We started with the men quarterfinals as Wessel Nijman had the best performance of the tournament: an average of 102,3 in a 5-2 win over Hendrie van Berkel! Jarno Bottenberg then surprised with a 5-3 win over World Master Wesley Plaisier, as he said the underdog position had helped him there as he 'had nothing to lose'! Berry van Peer then averaged over 93 in a 5-3 win over Jeremy van der Winkel, and the last semifinalist was Stefan Schröder who beat Alexander Merkx 5-3 as well!
Onto the ladies semifinals, as Aletta Wajer and Desiree Geel entered the stage. There seemed to be nothing between the two Dutch ladies, and in a deciding leg it was Geel who kept her cool and won it 4-3! Zijlstra then played Rietbergen, and it seemed like Zijlstra ran out of steam, as it was a below par performance from her that gave Lerena Rietbergen a 4-1 win and a spot in the final!
In the men semifinals, Nijman continued his great day with an average over 95 in a 5-0 whitewash over Jarno Bottenberg! Bottenberg did secure a spot at the Modus Super Series 5 as an ADC Europe Qualifier thanks to that run though. Berry van Peer then also made the final following a 5-3 win over Stefan Schröder who will also make his MSS debut, while Van Peer will return to the MSS in Series 5, having won a week as ADC Europe Qualifier in Series 4! In fact, 'Bionic' Van Peer had seven perfect darts in the final leg of that game!
Onto the girls final, and it was big favourite Fardau de Jong who took on Vanity van Zuidam. De Jong showed why she was the favourite in that game, and had a very easy 3-0 whitewash win to pick up the title and become the first ever NDB Girls Masters Champion! In the boys final it was favourite Pim van Bijnen against Kenji Steinbach. Van Bijnen reached that final after a win over Simon van Laar on the stage, despite still suffering a lot from dartitis. Steinbach beat very young talent Daan Toxopeus in his semifinal on the big stage. In the final it was Van Bijnen who beat Steinbach 5-2 to win another title in his very young but impressive career!
Onto the women's final between two younger talents: Lerena Rietbergen and Desiree Geel! Both ladies won 3 of the first 6 legs and levelled at 3-3. But then it was Geel who started missing some crucial doubles and Rietbergen punished, as she won the last two legs to pick up the NDB Masters title, a first ever senior NDB title for Lerena Rietbergen!
In the men final it was Open Rivierenland Champion Wessel Nijman against Dutch Open Champion Berry van Peer! Van Peer won the first two legs, before Nijman went on a little rally and won legs in 18, 13 and 14 darts to lead 3-2! Nijman's level then dropped significantly though and Van Peer won 3 legs on the spin himself for a 5-3 lead! Missed matchdarts from BVP saw Nijman come back at 5-4 with a 14-darter. But then in leg 10 Van Peer once again started with two 180's to leave the 141! Once again he hit T20, but this time he also hit T19! He went to D12 to win the title with a perfect leg, but missed it, to his own agony! Van Peer then finished the final in 13 darts though to crown himself the first ever Men NDB Masters Champion!
Congratulations to Berry van Peer, Lerena Rietbergen, Pim van Bijnen and Fardau de Jong with their victories, and thanks to the NDB for organizing this enjoyable tournament, and for Marco Meijer to call 12 games in a row! Onto the 2023/2024 season!