Import Hoogkerker Jarno Bottenberg was the surprise at the Dutch Open Darts last weekend. He didn’t even make it to Sunday in previous editions, but now won the tournament. Among the juniors, Bellingwolder Ruben Baalmans proved to be an enormous talent.
More than 6,000 darts players, but you will first have to look with a magnifying glass to find a Groningen or Drent player who throws high marks – or rather: a lot of triples – on Sunday on the final day of the TOTO Dutch Open Darts in the Bonte Wever. The top players who qualified for the last 128 of the men’s singles at the largest darts tournament in the world all came ‘from far away’.
Davy Proosten, a top darts name of course, who qualified for the final day with an average of no less than 109.98. But ‘The Joker’ comes from Venlo. Danny Jansen, who bears the nickname ‘The Mullet’ thanks to his impressive mat, comes from something closer: Holten. Arjan Konterman from Staphorst is rapidly approaching the northern provincial borders. But a real Drent or Groninger among the favorites in advance? No.
Beers Bottie
With a little imagination they are there. Jarno Bottenberg grew up in Friesland, but love brought him to Groningen. Hoogkerk to be precise. He has been living there for a few years now and he enjoys playing darts. He has already played at Lakeside and will make it to Sunday for the first time in this edition of the Dutch Open. “I’m taking it a bit more seriously this edition.” This is evident from the words that ‘Bottie’, as his nickname is, exchanges with fans/friends after his victory in the eighth final against Patrick Schop. “I’m shaking, I didn’t drink enough, haha.” Beers Bottie, he went out to play darts…
In all seriousness, Bottenberg drinks a nice beer between matches, but is also serious about it. “Yes, I want to get as far as possible in darts, I’m only 22. My girlfriend complains that I’m away a lot, haha. But at my work at Trapeso in Harkema they cooperate very well. They also sponsor me.” It won’t do him any harm on Sunday.
Against Schop he comes back from a 2-0 deficit and wins 4-2 thanks to strong doubles. This means that he can go onto the stage in the main hall in the quarter-finals. “I find that relaxing. I throw much better there than on those small courts,” he says with bravado. “But now I’m going to prepare.” The answer to the question of how he will do that? “With a beer.”
‘Crown on the icing’
That is far from possible for Ruben Baalmans. He is 14 and a real Groninger, from Bellingwolde. While Bottenberg ‘prepares’, Baalmans will throw the youth final (boys under 18) on the big stage against the Frisian Cor Beukema. He takes it 4-2, after he was already the strongest among the aspirants last year. Joy with his large fan base, consisting of family and friends. Mother has to shed a tear. “Good luck!”
A man wearing a luminous bunny hat is in ecstasy and calls it ‘the crowning glory’. Baalmans himself lets it all wash over him. Press obligations, he likes it. Mom looks at her phone. “Facebook, everything is exploding!” Baalmans himself is dreaming in the meantime. “I want to be at the PDC World Cup one day.” He is well on his way.
Bottenberg’s Dutch Open does not end in the quarter-finals. Throwing better on stage was no boast. ‘Bottie’ surprisingly makes it to the final! It is extremely exciting against Wesley Plaisier, but Bottenberg is already making his darts dream come true: he wins the Dutch Open Darts after a finish on 131. How does he celebrate? With a beer of course.