RVB qualifies for Grand Slam of Darts (+draw)

Yesterday the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts qualifier was played in Barnsley. As Michael van Gerwen is the only Dutchman who made a tv final the past year (he won the 2020 PC Finals), we only had 1 Dutchman in the field so far.

In the semi-final round we had 4 Dutchmen left. Vincent van der Voort lost in a last leg to German Martin Schindler, while Dirk van Duijvenbode also lost 4-5, to Croatian Boris Krcmar. The other 2 Dutchmen played each other in the semi-final round. Danny Noppert had already beat another Dutchman in Martijn Kleermaker, while five time world champ Raymond van Barneveld already beat Alan Soutar with a 103 average. It was RVB who beat Noppert 5-3 and got into the final round. Here he played Brendan Dolan. Dolan missed matchdarts, as Barney surprisingly won it 5-4! This means the 2012 Grand Slam champion will make his first appearence at this tournament since 2018! 

Michael van Gerwen is drawn in a group with Joe ‘Rockstar’ Cullen, World Cup Champion John Henderson and female tourcard holder Lisa Ashton. Van Barneveld has a tough group with two time world champion Gary Anderson, ‘Bullyboy’ Michael Smith and World Youth Championship Finalist Joe Davis. The Grand Slam of Darts starts next saturday. MVG starts against Ashton, while RVB takes on Smith in his opener.