Dutch Darts Masters (WS)

On 24 and 25 January, the Dutch Darts Masters were held in Den Bosch, as part of the World Series. Eight PDC top players competed against eight Benelux players. After a great tournament, it was Rob Cross who managed to win the title, after a victory in the final against Stephen Bunting.

The tournament in Den Bosch is played after the Bahrain Masters a week ago. Rob Cross is the only PDC top player in Bahrain who is eliminated in the first round, but he more than makes up for that in Den Bosch. He wins the title there and plays very strongly throughout the tournament. In the first round, he takes on Richard Veenstra. The Dutchman starts the match well, but ultimately loses 6-3 to 'Voltage'.

In the quarterfinals, Cross plays against 'man in form' Jermaine Wattimena. Cross throws an average of almost a hundred and manages to beat the Dutchman 6-3. In the last four he meets Gerwyn Price, who managed to reach the final in Bahrain. The Englishman is clearly too strong for the Welshman: he again throws an average of around a hundred and beats Price 7-3. However, he has saved his best average until the final: with an average of 101.87 he beats Stephen Bunting 8-5 and wins a World Series tournament for the fifth time in his career. Bunting has to settle for second place after winning in Bahrain. In an exciting semi-final he beats Luke Littler 7-6, after he had also won in deciding legs against Gian van Veen and Raymond van Barneveld (both times 6-5).

Four Dutchmen manage to win their first match: Michael van Gerwen, Raymond van Barneveld, Jermaine Wattimena and Kevin Doets. ‘Barney’ beats Chris Dobey 6-5: Dobey misses a match dart on double nineteen, after which Van Barneveld still manages to secure victory with a 144 finish. Doets impresses against Nathan Aspinall (6-1), Wattimena beats world number 1 Luke Humphries 6-3 and Van Gerwen plays a good game against fellow countryman Dirk van Duijvenbode (6-1). Unfortunately for the Dutch, they all lose their matches in the quarter finals, meaning the home crowd does not get the ‘home winner’ they dreamed of.