"I felt I let myself down terribly then" - Vincent van der Voort recalls losing to Anastasia Dobromyslova at Grand Slam of Darts 2009

This year's Grand Slam of Darts features two qualifiers via the Women's Series, Beau Greaves and Noa-Lynn van Leuven. They both went out in the group stage, but unlike Van Leuven, Greaves did manage to win a match against a man. That stirred up some unpleasant memories for Vincent van der Voort.

Greaves defeated Cameron Menzies 5-1 in her final group match. However, having lost her first two group matches to Danny Noppert and Martin Schindler, she ended up out at the group stage anyway. Van Leuven meanwhile, suffered three successive losses in a group that also contained Gary Anderson, Michael van Gerwen and Ryan Joyce.

Read also

Schedule Grand Slam of Darts 2024 on Saturday with Anderson-Van Veen and Wattimena-Littler

In 2009, there was only one woman at the Grand Slam of Darts, Anastasia Dobromyslova. The Russian even managed to win 5-3 against Van der Voort in the group stage. "I found it very difficult playing against her then. I really struggled with it. It was one of the worst matches I played," Van der Voort recalls via the podcast 'Darts Draait Door'. 

Anastasia Dobromyslova in action

Van der Voort was therefore bitterly disappointed. "Let me keep it politically correct. I thought: darn, too bad this. Fortunately no bullying came from other darters. If that had happened then, I probably would have been suspended. I really didn't accept that at the time," the 48-year-old Dutchman laughed. "I also felt I let myself down terribly there. I knew my level was much better than what I showed. Mentally I failed there."

Van der Voort finally returned to Van Leuven's performance at the Grand Slam of Darts. "I heard from Michael that she was quite bummed," he explains. "That's how she must feel. Then it's right."

Read also

Tournament centre Grand Slam of Darts 2024: Schedule of play, all results, TV Guide and prize money breakdown