NOPPERT INTO THE LAST FOUR! German hopes are dashed at the last in Dortmund as Danny Noppert beats Ricardo Pietreczko 10-9 to progress. 📺 bit.ly/EC24Live #ECDarts24
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.
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.
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