"He is not playing that great at the moment" - Ex-pro concerned Luke Littler is going off the boil as PDC calendar reaches most important time of year

This past weekend was all about the Hungarian Darts Trophy in Budapest. For darts fans, it was a weekend full of surprises, remarkable performances and a lot of conversation, both on and off the board. In the latest episode of the podcast Darts Draait Door, Damian Vlottes and Vincent van der Voort look back extensively on the tournament and the performances of some of the players.

The main star of the weekend was Nico Springer, ranked No. 70 in the world rankings prior to the tournament, who surprisingly won the tournament. Van der Voort is clearly impressed with the young German: "This is potentially the best German there has ever been. Almost every match he still has a little phase where it doesn't go his way, but it's impressive how he threw himself through the tournament."

Springer immediately sidelined Van Veen in the first round, despite Van Veen throwing an average of 106. "I literally appended him, 'This was it again.' 106 average and still losing," Vlottes recalled. But Springer also beat Humphries, Rock and, in the final, Noppert. "That's a huge achievement," Van der Voort stressed. "You can see that step by step he is becoming a great player."

The final against Noppert was a match of extremes. Noppert played well, but Springer threw some crucial finishes of 120 and 76, which ultimately made the difference. Vlottes: "He was actually the better player in the final, but those finishes by Springer really hurt him." Van der Voort added: "So close to a Eurotour win, but this is a fantastic result for Noppert. He can be proud that he made it to the final."

A notable theme in Noppert's analysis is the switch from afternoon to evening matches. "He struggled with that before, but this time he tackled it well. He played in the evening with a different intention, a bit more fanatic," Vlottes explained. According to Van der Voort, Noppert benefits from someone who keeps him sharp, or that he can call it himself: "You see that the tournament is already a few days away, that he gets more tired. The right aggression is crucial then."

This nuance in mental and physical preparation shows how important rhythm and focus are in darts. "It's not that Noppert is not fit," Van der Voort stressed. "You see him playing in the right aggression, just the way you want to see him. He's supposed to go far in tournaments of this level a few times a year."

Springer's success fits into a broader trend: Germany's rise in professional darts. "Springer is the fourth German to win a Eurotour. In total, the Germans have won five Eurotours, only two of which were in Germany. That is remarkable, because you would think that home advantage plays a role."

Van der Voort adds that for a long time Germany was not seen as a strong darts nation: "But now they have really decent results with players like Schindler and also Clemens. And Max Hopp did really well for a while. Schindler is now in the top 20, and Springer seems to reach that level in time."

The former pro darter then predicts a bright future for Springer: "He is really a great talent. Potentially, he can even become better than Schindler. It is clever that in his first six months he is already performing at such a level. That's something only a small group of players manage to do."

In addition, they also briefly discussed the play of Luke Littler. Van der Voort noted that things are not going well for the super-talent at the moment. "I have to honestly say that he is not playing that great at the moment. He is still hard to beat and remains a good player, as his foundation ensures that you never win easily against him. But at the moment, the very best is off for a while."

Another notable phenomenon is that 'The Nuke' has mostly had to put up with Dutch players lately. "It's the Dutch who have to do it to stop him, though. Van Veen won against him in the Czech Republic, Van Gerwen of course wins at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam, and now Noppert beats him in Hungary," Vlottes lists.

Michael van Gerwen's performance was also discussed. The Dutchman's performance at the Hungarian Darts Trophy showed how challenging it is to continuously perform at the top level. In the first round he faced Matthew Dennant, whom he defeated 6-2, after which Van Gerwen had to bow to Noppert in the next round. Vlottes analyzed, "What especially struck me was that his darts were not always straight. During the World Series of Darts Finals, you saw that they stood much nicer."

Against Dennant, Van Gerwen did not seem fully focused. "There was very little experience in his game," Van der Voort noted. "You got the idea pretty quickly: Dennant can never win this. But honestly, it just wasn't good." Vlottes nuances, "Dennant is not an average player. He's definitely talented, but he's not that remarkable. He's one of those British players who might not make an immediate impression, but he can dart well. But after leg 1 you just saw: he's not going to win."

The next round against Noppert offered more opposition. "There was already more speed in his game there, but he just didn't have it," Van der Voort analyzed. Noppert started strong, taking a 4-2 lead, then had a small dip. "Noppert scored excellently and Van Gerwen simply couldn't keep up. In a tournament like this, it's really not obvious that you come back right away and play dominant again."

The point is that consistency in darts is hard work, especially after a tough tournament. Van Gerwen had played another tournament in Amsterdam the week before and finished with an impressive overall average of 102. "Fantastic, but to reach that level again a week later is really hard," Van der Voort said. Training plays a big part in that. "We did throw after the previous tournament, but not intensively enough. It's about maintaining suppleness and rhythm, and you actually have to do that daily. And with that, the schedule is often so busy that that's difficult."

"If you threw hard three days in a row and finished Sunday night, you don't have to put in hours on Monday. But Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday it is important to keep the rhythm," he concluded.