The match didn’t start too well for Van Veen in terms of scoring. In the fifth leg, when the score was 2-2, his average remained just below 90. Despite the draw, the European champion did not seem satisfied with his game, while this was not noticeable on Friday evening against Humphries with a 3-0 deficit.
In the fifth leg, Van Veen finally took the lead after Ratajski, who defeated Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 on Friday, forgot to throw out. The 23-year-old darts player grabbed a break with a finish of 115: 3-2. The Pole then responded with another break.
Van Veen misses two match darts
The Dutchman seemed to get the hang of it. Van Veen then took the lead again after he threw his first 180’er in the seventh leg: 4-3. The eighth leg also went to Van Veen, but the darts talent missed two match darts on double 16 when he was 5-4 ahead. Those misses ultimately cost him dearly, as the Pole did score in the double 16: 6-5 in the eleventh decisive leg.
The Giant has little time to mourn, because the final of the youth World Cup awaits on Sunday. The Dutchman will then play against Beau Greaves, who defeated Luke Littler this fall.
Impressive average for Wattimena
Jermaine Wattimena impressed in the second round against Ryan Joyce with an excellent average of 108.94. It is Wattimena’s highest average ever in a major competition. The Dutchman started with a break and immediately managed to capitalize on it. Thanks to a 12-darter, the third leg also went well The Machine Gunwho never had any problems after that against the Englishman: 6-2.
After the match, the darts player from Gelderland responded in front of the camera Viaplay at its high average. “I have shown in the last matches that I can reasonably compete with the top. I was comfortable, the triples fell easily,” said Wattimena, who will compete against Ryan Searle on Saturday evening.
Veenstra down without a chance, Noppert later in action
Of the ten Dutch people who qualified for the major tournament, six dropped out in the first round on Friday. Richard Veenstra can now, just like Van Veen, join the group of eliminated Dutchmen, because Flyers lost without a chance against Nathan Aspinall on Saturday afternoon: 6-0. It was the first whitewash of the tournament.
Dirk van Duijvenbode argues with the umpire during the exit at the Players Championship Finals over a rejected throw
Danny Noppert will play his second match at the end of the afternoon against Madars Razma. TheFreeze showed that he was in top form on Friday afternoon by easily putting Ricky Evans aside: 6-2. Earlier this month, the 36-year-old Frisian reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts, but then he had to let the eventual winner Littler go ahead 16-9.
The new number 1 in the world won 6-3 against Ross Smith on Saturday afternoon and is also in the last 16. The eighth finals will be played on Saturday evening, after which the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place on Sunday in Minehead.