If like me, you like your darts chat served like a Sunday roast – piled high with all the trimmings, smothered in gravy and crowned with a great Yorkshire pudding – then you can certainly rely on Vincent van der Voort to satisfy your hunger.
As always, the Darts Draait Door lads had plenty to chew over after the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. Vinny and Damien Vlottes took turns praising, mocking, and generally dismantling the weekend’s action.
Michael van Gerwen obviously stole the show – because he is Dutch, won in Amsterdam and looked back to his menacing best. MVG pocketed the trophy, looked smug about it, and left the rest of the field hoping to avoid playing him for a while. A few others made some noise too, though in certain cases it was the kind of noise you hear when a car won’t start.
The Americans, Jason Brandon and Danny Lauby Jr., didn’t so much underperform as completely evaporate on stage. Van der Voort didn’t hold back:
“They might as well have stayed home… Both of them were absolutely hopeless. Lauby nicked a leg, but only because Price missed six match darts. Otherwise, they’d both have been heading back with zero legs to their name.”
About as subtle as a sledgehammer there Vinny. On the brighter side, Simon Whitlock resurfaced like a boomerang nobody asked for but somehow enjoyed catching. The Aussie veteran reminded everyone that grey hair doesn’t stop you hitting trebles. As Vlottes put it, “Like a fly buzzing around, he just wouldn’t go away… He even had darts to make it 5–5.”
Cameron Menzies provided the weekend’s strangest subplot. First, he toppled Peter Wright. Then he followed it up with the darts equivalent dying on stage against Chris Dobey, producing an average so low the fans had to duck. At 66.85, he earned the dubious honour of the lowest ever average at the event. Van der Voort was sympathetic for once:
“I heard he spoke with someone from the organisation afterwards about that match and everything else going on in his life. The lad’s struggling… He needs guidance and routine, but that stability just isn’t there. You can see he’s battling mentally.”
Naturally, talk kept swinging back to Van Gerwen, who walked off with the trophy. Was this proof he’s back? Van der Voort poured a pint of cold realism over that theory:
“It’s too opportunistic to say that… His problems aren’t suddenly solved. The divorce still needs finalising, and the kids are sad at times because they miss their dad or their mum. That doesn’t just vanish overnight. They’re starting to realise things will never go back to how they were, and that’s tough.”
He doubled down with the sort of detail you normally get in a Netflix documentary:
“He’s got this big house, but when you walk in and there’s no one there, that’s hard. No one in the morning, no one in the evening to share things with. So yes, a lot still needs sorting in his life. To say there’s no need to worry about him anymore – I don’t buy that.” Nothing like darts wisdom mixed with a side order of marital breakdown.
The podcast also drifted onto tournament logistics, because nothing says entertainment like debating start times. From next year, the event gets an extra day – a Thursday warm-up – to stop players from being run ragged. Van der Voort approved:
“That’s only a good thing… It fixes the problem straight away and makes the tournament even better.”
However, they were less enthusiastic about tinkering with the final:
“First to 11 legs is spot on… Long enough to be interesting, short enough to stay exciting. If a final is one-sided, all a longer format does is make it even duller.” Fair enough – nobody wants to sit through a 19-leg thrashing unless they’re related to the winner.
Then came Van Gerwen’s latest beef – accusing Wessel Nijman of playing slower than an ageing printer. Van der Voort was having none of it:
“Nijman always does that. He’ll stand waiting, stick his flights in his side – it’s just part of his game. But Van Gerwen only sees him throw when they’re playing each other, so he thinks it’s deliberate.”
The final verdict? Glowing, naturally. The semi-finals and final were hailed as box-office material that could easily have graced the World Championship. Vlottes wrapped things up with a flourish:
“It doesn’t get much better than that… This was top level. Semi-finals full of world-class players – it lifted the whole event.” And with Van Gerwen winning in front of a home crowd, the Dutch got the ending they wanted – confetti, cheers, and plenty of lager sales.
—–ENDS—–
Images: Gábor Kiss/PDC Europe
