Noppert received a bye in the first round because of his ranking on the PDC Order of Merit: tenth. But the 31-year-old darter from Joure was unable to fulfill his favorite role against Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, who won the first round 2-6 and is 129th in the ranking.
The Austrian was allowed to start and made no mistake, after which he broke Noppert immediately. A sensitive blow that Noppert couldn’t get over, because then he didn’t keep the next leg he was allowed to start: 0-4. The Freeze saved the honor by breaking Jake Rodriguez, but his opponent then did too: 1-5. In the end, Jake Rodriguez finished it off with a 56th finish, thus making it to the third round.
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