1/5 A group of friends from Den Bosch enjoys the fun. (Photo: Leon Voskamp)
The rise of Michael van Gerwen provided a noise in the Maaspoort in Den Bosch on Friday evening. De Vlijmenaar then convincingly won 6-1 against Dirk van Duijvenbode and wants to prolong his title at the Toto Dutch Darts Masters on Saturday. The win was celebrated by the packed room, but actually it didn’t matter for many of the 2,000 spectators at the Toto Dutch Darts Masters who were on stage. “We come here to party and drink,” says Wout Kerkhof from Nistelrode.
Raymond van Barneveld briefly summarized the audience after his 6-5 win against Chris Dobey. “The people in Den Bosch were great, the room exploded. I already feel like throwing again on Saturday.” The atmosphere was good in the Maaspoort on Friday evening. Sixteen darters came into action in total, where the winners qualify for the final day on Saturday.
Wout Kerkhof was dressed as the Daltons with his friends from Nistelrode. They sat at the table in the Maaspoort early in the evening and there was no shortage of beer. “Actually, I don’t look at the darts,” he says laughing. “Look at that size of me from Oss, he has his glass so empty.”
Yuri Vissers from Sint-Michielsgestel chose to go to Den Bosch with his friends as the imitation of Koert Westerman. “What a great evening we have. We see darts of a high level with nice pots. But to be honest, we come more for fun.”
For David Jansen from Tilburg, darts are a good warm-up for carnival. “Drinking beer, dressing and socializing, I can’t do much of the darts, I haven’t seen much.”
With his bald head and shirt by Michael van Gerwen, Michael from Zeeland stood out well among all partygoers. “But you know, if Van Gerwen does not win this tournament, it is still a party. We can’t see those arrows from the room and we do drink beer.”
“Bunting is a legend.”
Not only the Dutch darters were noisily encouraged, but also, among others, Stephen Bunting. The Englishman won from Gian van Veen and that caused joy at Jari Kreté from Den Bosch and his friends. “Bunting is a legend, he can win the tournament from me. Although it would also be nice if a Dutchman wins this.”
After his convincing win, Van Gerwen will take on Van Duijvenbode on Saturday evening in the quarterfinals against Luke Littler, a repeat of the World Cup final. “But I am not busy with revenge. I just want to win, I don’t interest numbers.”
Also read: Michael van Gerwen positive about 2025: “Too much talent to win nothing.”