Sunday the final day of April, and also the final day of the 2023 Dutch Darts Championship! It wasn’t a massive crowd for the afternoon session, but they were certainy very loud!
We got started with Keane Barry against Ryan Searle, and for the second time this year the young Irishman reached the quarterfinals on the European Tour as he edged out Searle 6-5 after ‘Heavy Metal’ missed three matchdarts!
Michael van Gerwen was up next again taking on a German in Martin Schindler. The loud crowd certainly played their part in this game, as did the big finishes from Mighty Mike who won it 6-2. While waiting to interview the Green Machine it then turned out MVG was not gonna give an interview after getting annoyed at a photographer who stood too close tot he stage.
What followed was a repeat of the World Final between Michael Smith and Peter Wright. An out of form Peter Wright surprised probably everyone as he averaged 102 in a 6-3 win! Wright said he would be ready for the matchplay and grand prix to me yesterday, and on Sunday’s interview he confirmed that this is probably where his return to form is starting! He could not tell me how to prepare for the evening session though as that would be decided by ‘the boss’ as he looked at his wife Joanne.
Dave Chisnall then played Josh Rock, and despite Chizzy going quite under the radar this event he had another great win here and went through to the quarterfinals! An injured Dirk van Duijvenbode then entered the building against Stephen Bunting and it was a very slow start. Just like on Saturday night Aubergenius fought back though and from 1-3 down went to 3-3. It then was Bunting who took the 3-5 lead though and then won 6-4 while averaging a ton.
Then it was another Dutchman in Berry van Peer who took on Damon Heta, but it was an off day for BVP as he lost 1-6 to the Australian. The Aussie number one told me he was expecting a lot more from Van Peer but did appreciate the fact the crowd were behaving perfectly fine there!
Dutch number two Danny Noppert went up against Nathan Aspinall and just like their last week’s third round game it was a thrilling game without being high quality.
The Freeze again kept his cool and won 6-5 for the second consecutive week! Before my interview Noppert was first talking to a local newspaper which took a while and in the meantime a disappointed Berry van Peer walked by, as disappointed as he was he was still his funny self though, pretending to press my start record button.
Noppert then told me he had a lot of family with him, who he was gonna have dinner with in preparation for the evening session. He did not mind wether Andrew Gilding or Luke Humphries would be his opponent as he didn’t like to play slower players until he won a floor title against Gilding himself!
It would not be another game against Gilding for Noppert though, as Humphries won that one 6-4 to conclude the afternoon session. I then went outside for some much needed daylight, fresh air and finally some healthy food. When I came back, the crowd for the evening session was absolutely massive!
The atmosphere and crowd were massive as well for this session, and the walk-on from Michael van Gerwen was one of the loudest I have ever heard.
Mighty Mike played Keane Barry and the young Irishman refused to take his chances early on as Van Gerwen rushed into a third consecutive 6-2 win without playing anywhere near his best. Who also played nowhere near his best was Peter Wright, who after his great afternoon display dropped 12 points in his quarterfinal and lost 1-6 to Dave Chisnall!
Damon Heta then also had an easy win against Stephen Bunting, 6-2 with a 98 average as Danny Noppert was now the only player left in the field who had not won an Eurotour title yet! That was to change soon though. Luke Humphries was the far better player but some big finishes kept Danny Noppert in that game, and after Cool Hand missed some matchdarts, Noppert got the chance on 102. He missed a matchdart as it was Humphries who got over the line and into the semi’s!
It was Van Gerwen against Chisnall in the first semifinal and Chizzy took a big 4-1 lead. Then the crowd got involved though and started booing, whistling and cheering for every dart Chisnall didn’t throw in the treble as MVG managed to level at 5-5! At 6-6 Chizzy missed a lot of booed matchdarts, and Mighty Mike got three at double 6. He missed all three himself though and Chisnall hit double one to win an absolute thriller and silence the crowd!
In the second semifinal it was a lot more quiet, and number one seed Humphries had an easy 7-3 win over Heta to book his place in the final!
An all English final with the winner to be crowned a five time Eurotour champion! Just like at the Baltic Sea Darts Open it was Humphries against Chisnall!! Just like in the semi’s Chizzy took a 4-1 lead, but Humphries fought back and made it 5-3 and then even 6-5! Chisnall threw two more great legs though as he won 8-5 and became the Dutch Darts Champion!
All that was left was a Chizzy interview! While waiting Chris Murphy said he would get ready for the interview, but he must wait for a different time as it was now time to talk to the champion!
Chisnall was happy that I mentioned it would be his first Dutch win after his first match on Saturday. He also thought it was very difficult to play his friend Luke in the final, but on the other hand was happy that he also reached the final! Chisnall loves playing on the European Tour and did not even mind the misbehaving of the crowd in the semifinals as he thought it was partly his own fault as he challenged the crowd.
A massive congratulations to the winner, and after saying goodbye to my fellow journalists and the PDC Europe staff who have been doing a superb job all week, it was time to go and enjoy a much needed short holiday in this beautiful part of The Netherlands.
I can use some rest having done 32 interviews over just three days but it was once again very fun to do!
—–ENDS—–
Words and Images : Wim Blokpoel
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