For Michael van Gerwen, the eighth final of the Grand Slam of Darts is the final destination. The darts player from Vlijmen was surprisingly eliminated on Thursday evening by fellow countryman Danny Noppert: 10-6.
It was not that Van Gerwen had a bad day in Wolverhampton, England. He threw no fewer than eight 180’s and, among other things, took a leg with a difficult 170 finish. Noppert only threw very strongly and already made a break in the third leg by throwing out 170, just like Van Gerwen.
Things went smoothly for a while after that, with both men not relinquishing their legs until the thirteenth leg. Then Noppert posted his second break and expanded to 8-5.
Van Gerwen bowed his head, was unable to make a break himself and ultimately resigned himself to being eliminated. In the quarter-finals, Noppert will meet the German Lukas Wenig, against whom he won 5-4 in the group stage.