At 3-2 in legs, Van Gerwen lost his own leg against Noppert, but he recovered immediately. At 5-4, Noppert struck again. Van Gerwen, placed third, was given an excellent opportunity to equalize. He had two darts left for the double-16, but hit the single seven. That was the end of the story, provided Noppert did throw out and he did that flawlessly.
Vincent van der Voort and Martijn Kleermaker had already stunted. Van der Voort won 6-5 against world number two Gerwyn Price, while Kleermaker knocked first seed Michael Smith out of the tournament 6-4. In addition, Jermaine Wattimena won 6-5 against Jonny Clayton.
