Zonneveld sends world champion Wright home, misses cost Van Gerwen the head | Sport

Niels Zonneveld took on great Peter Wright as an unseeded player and so few people would have expected a victory. Zonneveld, however, played well and even managed to overcome a 4-2 deficit.

Especially in the second part of the match, the Dutchman achieved a very high level. He was able to break Wright back to make it 5-5 on the scoreboard. Zonneveld was allowed to start the decisive leg and traditionally wanted to give Wright a box for the last leg. Wright refused, however, making it unfriendly for a while.

Zonneveld, however, did not let this put him off. He quickly came to a finish and at the second match dart it was hit. The joy was of course great at Zonneveld, who records one of the biggest wins of his career to date.

Like his compatriot, Michael van Gerwen failed to secure a place in the third round. The Dutchman took on the Belgian Kim Huybrechts, who was of course loudly encouraged by the public. Van Gerwen did not have his best day and eventually went down 6-4.

Huybrechts had the better of the game at the start and rewarded himself with a break and a 4-2 lead. Van Gerwen’s doubles in particular didn’t run at all. Still, he managed to fight back to a 4-4 score and not much later, nothing seemed to stand in the way of a decisive eleventh leg.

With a 5-4 deficit, it was unfortunately again the doubles that let Van Gerwen down. He failed to use one of the nine arrows on a double and so Huybrechts struck immediately with a nice finish of two times double 20. The crowd went crazy and Van Gerwen had to leave disappointed.

After Van Gerwen it was Danny Noppert’s turn. On paper, De Fries had a not too difficult opponent in Madars Razma, but the game turned out to be a true thriller. Both gentlemen managed to break each other once, leaving a 5-5 score on the board after ten legs.

Noppert was allowed to start this decisive leg by throwing and he took advantage of that advantage. Razma failed to hit 160, so Noppert had three darts to get from 50 to 0. This was successful with the last arrow and so the Frisian is in the third round of the tournament in Belgium.

Jelle Klaasen lost earlier in the day with clear numbers from Dave Chisnall. Yet the differences were not far apart, although the results suggest so. Chisnall threw the maximum score three times, Klaasen twice. But the average was also close to each other: 98.39 for Chisnall and 95.76 for the Dutchman. But when it had to, the Englishman struck.

Chisnall broke Klaasen immediately when he was allowed to start the leg for the first time and then did the same at 5-1 with a 170 finish. Klaasen showed resilience and broke Chisnall back. But there was nothing more in it for him.

Dirk van Duijvenbode ensured the first Dutch success in Belgium. He defeated Mervyn King after a nerve-racking match. It didn’t come easy Aubergenius, who led the entire game against the Englishman.

Van Duijvenbode broke King at 4-2, but then immediately lost his own leg. King cashed in on the break and came alongside: 4-4. The game then went with the darts. Although the stats spoke in King’s favor: more 180’s, 140’s and 100+ rolled. The average (99.53 to 95.71) and finish percentage (54.55 percent to 27.78 percent) were in favor of Van Duijvenbode. The Dutchman finally made the difference. In the next round he will meet Jonny Clayton.