Because of his seventeenth place in the world ranking, Van Duijvenbode received an exemption for the first round and therefore only had to play against Koltsov for the first time. The Russian was previously responsible for the elimination of Jermaine Wattimena.
In the first set, the breaks flew around the players, but it was eventually Aubergenius who was the first to keep his own leg and thus also immediately took the first set. Koltsov was not deterred and quickly repaired the damage by taking the second set 3-0.
In the third set, Van Duijvenbode quickly faced a 2-0 deficit again. He took another leg back, but the damage was already done. The Viking also took the third set to him and from that moment on the problems became really big for the Dutchman. Aubergenius proved resilient, however, and managed to force a decisive set. The Dutchman finally managed to pull the longest straw in this.
Last year, Van Duijvenbode made a deep impression at the World Cup by reaching the quarterfinals from scratch. In this he eventually had to acknowledge his superiority in two-time world champion Gary Anderson (1-5). Before the tournament, the Dutchman announced that he was completely ready to repeat his good performance from last year.
Kleermaker surprises at World Cup with victory against Whitlock
Martijn Kleermaker has surprisingly reached the third round at the World Cup. The debutant eliminated the experienced Australian Simon Whitlock in four sets: 3-1. His next opponent is the Briton Joe Cullen, the number 13 in the world.
Kleermaker missed the chance to take a 2-0 lead in the second set. He missed on double 20, after which Whitlock was able to tie the score in the next inning (1-1). After that, the Dutchman made an excellent recovery. He triumphed with an average of 88.84 points and a finish percentage of almost 38 percent.
“It didn’t go by itself at all, it was really a fight,” Kleermaker responded to RTL7 shortly afterwards. “It was raking, pushing and pulling, but I kept going. I never give up, that’s not in my dictionary. That’s how I win the game and that’s the most important thing. I’m in the next round and that’s great. But it definitely needs to be a little more consistent. It really can only get better.”
It is Kleermaker’s first time to participate in the World Championships of the professional association PDC. He was supposed to make his debut last year, but then tested positive for the coronavirus and was kicked out of the tournament according to safety protocol.
Nathan Aspinall also survives thriller
Earlier in the evening, the audience at Alexandra Palace was also treated to a gigantic thriller. Nathan Aspinall, the number ten on the seeding list, survived a match dart against Joe Murman and eventually stepped off the podium as the winner: 3-2.
The Asp balanced on the brink of collapse, even trailing 2-0 in sets and 2-0 in games. With the support of the public, he still managed to fight back and, unlike his opponent, he ended the match on his first match dart.