six Dutch people from the World Darts Championship in two days

• Thierry Boon

  at the World Darts Championships in London

Now that it is actually dry outside, it is raining in London for Dutch eliminations at the World Darts Championship. In one weekend, six compatriots are eliminated on the iconic stage of Alexandra Palace. Of the record number of sixteen Dutch people, only four are left.

While no miracles were expected from Alexander Merkx and Richard Veenstra, the early exit of Dirk van Duijvenbode, Raymond van Barneveld, Danny Noppert and Wessel Nijman is a big blow for Dutch darts.

Especially in terms of breadth, ‘Oranje’ is well represented in the originally British pub sport: of the 96 participants, more than sixteen percent come from the Netherlands. But after Michael van Gerwen, three-time world champion, a real world champion is missing.

“What do you want me to say? I can’t even talk, sorry,” says Van Duijvenbode after his defeat against Madars Razma in the catacombs of ‘Ally Pally’. He points to his throat. “I’ve been sick all week.” And gone is ‘Aubergenius’.

These are the complaints that Van Barneveld, who was eliminated a day earlier in the second round by Nick Kenny, also suffers from. “I had a sore throat, zero energy and zero fighting spirit, unfortunately,” ‘Barney’ said on Sunday.

The two are part of the TOTO Dart Kings, the commercial team full of Dutch top players. An apartment was rented in London especially for the World Cup. The darts players can train, relax and have access to a professional coaching team, including their own chef.

The Dutch top players may have instigated each other. They saw each other in the TOTO house and recently worked together as analysts at Viaplay. Either way, there’s a flu virus going around on top of the hill in North London.

There is a lot of sniffling, not only among darts players, but also in the press room and among the fans. The constant temperature differences in the immense Alexandra Palace, where there is always a draught somewhere, do not help.

It gives their early eliminations some context. Because more was expected of both Dutchmen this World Cup. After a long period of physical discomfort, Van Duijvenbode has recently been throwing well again. At the last major tournament before the World Cup he narrowly missed the final.

Van Barneveld lost to a mediocre playing Kenny, number 76 in the world. While the 57-year-old from The Hague was secretly thinking in advance about a meeting with reigning world champion Luke Humphries in the third round.

Wessel Nijman did not suffer from the flu virus. “I feel great,” he assured. Nevertheless, he too fell. The North Hollander received a lot of attention this World Cup, also from England.

After impressive averages in recent tournaments, bookmakers suddenly saw him as a candidate for the world title. Reigning champion Humphries also dropped his name.

“That actually doesn’t make any sense,” Nijman said. “Because I may have thrown high averages, but I did lose those matches. So if you look simply, I have lost my last four matches at a major tournament. It doesn’t seem to me that you would put me in the top six in advance. “

Joe Cullen, the number 23 in the world who defeated Nijman (58th), was bothered by the ‘hype’ surrounding the Dutchman. “It helped lead to his downfall because I was highly motivated,” Cullen said. “Wessel can’t help it, but the attention was excessive.”

In contrast to the many eliminations, there were good performances by Jermaine Wattimena and Kevin Doets, who defeated former world champion Michael Smith in a thriller. After Christmas, they will be in the last 32, just like Van Gerwen.

One more Dutchman can be added: Gian van Veen, the world youth champion. He is the favorite in the match against the German Ricardo Pietreczko on Monday evening.