Danny Noppert shows resilience in Pietreczko win, set for Double Dutch semi-final at European Championship
PDCSunday, 27 October 2024 at 16:15
We will have a Dutchman in the final of the European Darts Championship anyway. Following Jermaine Wattimena, Danny Noppert has also secured a spot in the last four. The two Dutchmen will take on each other Sunday night in the semifinals.
ADVERTISEMENT
It was a very surprising afternoon in Dortmund, after big names like Michael Smith, Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler were eliminated earlier in the tournament. In the first three quarter-finals, it was also the outsider who managed to win from the favorite. Luke Woodhouse beat Dirk van Duijvenbode, while Ritchie Edhouse caused a surprise against Gary Anderson. The biggest shock, however, came from Wattimena, who beat reigning world champion Luke Humphries.
Had Pietreczko won against Noppert, there would have been four players from outside the top-32 in the world rankings in the semifinals of this major. Noppert put a stop to that, however, and is the only player in the semifinals who has won a PDC tournament at all.
After three one-sided quarter-finals, the match between Pietreczko and Noppert was exciting. Pietreczko got off to a spectacular start by breaking Noppert in the first leg with a 10-darter. The German had three chances later to go into the break with a 4-1 lead, but could not find the necessary double. As a result, Noppert stayed in the match and closed to 2-3 via tops.
Noppert then took over the lead with an 11-darter and a 48 finish. Through a 12-darter in the eighth leg, "The Freeze" then came up with a break of his own. Pietreczko returned to 5-5 by hitting 69 and 164. Noppert then gave away the initiative by missing two doubles in the eleventh leg. Pietreczko took advantage of the opportunity and hit 76 to make it 6-5.
In the 13th leg, Noppert had two chances to undo that break, but again the chances were not taken. Pietreczko dealt the next blow by throwing out 80 to take a 9-7 lead with a 56 finish and a 13-darter.
The task for Noppert became immediately clear after that, as he needed to win all three of the remaining legs to still get into the semifinals. An 80 check-out brought Noppert back to 8-9, before forcing an important rebreak with a 15-darter. In the leg decider, the Dutchman again showed his class by winning the match with an 80 finish.
ADVERTISEMENT
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- I'd happily pay for a site free of Van der Voort's every squeak and utterance.StraightArrowNoBull19-08-2026
- I think you miss the point. It is just a poll if you are willing to pay for an ad-free site. The content stays free.SheGotLegs16-08-2026
Loading
