"He's not in his best form, but he's still Michael" - After upsetting Gary Anderson, can Jeffrey de Graaf take out Michael van Gerwen?
PDC
After reaching the last 32 at the previous World Championship, Jeffrey de Graaf is once again on an excellent run at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship. With a 4-1 victory over Paolo Nebrida, he qualified for the last sixteen at the Alexandra Palace on Sunday. A milestone for the Swedish Dutchman, who never before got this far at a ranking major at the PDC.
In the previous round, De Graaf had stunned with a resounding 3-0 victory over Gary Anderson. Against Nebrida though, De Graaf initially struggled to deal with the Filipino's slow pace. "I had a lot of trouble in the first set, which was very difficult. I had more nerves than I thought. It was fighting. He was not that fast and I didn't get into my rhythm. The doubles didn't really go well either so it was fighting," De Graaf said in an initial reaction afterwards to Dutch broadcaster Viaplay.
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De Graaf lost the first set, but then managed to put things in order. The doubles went better and he took more distance from his Filipino opponent. "I took that second set and then I got more confidence," De Graaf agreed. "I got some kind of rhythm going, and glad I finally got it over the line."
In the last sixteen, De Graaf will face three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen. "He's not in his best form, but he's still Michael," De Graaf previewed at his post-match press conference. "He's still a tough customer. If I play my best game, maybe I can compete. But if he reaches his peak, I do have a problem."
According to De Graaf, his success at the World Darts Championship has also stirred things up in Sweden, where he has lived since 2018. "It's not very big in Sweden, but after my first matches I did make the front pages of the sports section. So it's growing tremendously, which is nice."
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