"I had sticky fingers from the beginning and I didn’t know how to deal with it": Danny Noppert dealt with bizarre hindrance during Slovak Darts Open

Danny Noppert has openly spoken about the difficulties he experienced due to the hot conditions in the playing venue during the 2026 Slovak Darts Open. Although the Dutchman secured a 6–2 victory over Madars Razma in the second round, he was far from satisfied with his performance afterwards.

Noppert and Razma struggled through a scrappy match in Bratislava, with both players performing well below their usual standards. The Dutchman averaged just 81.45 and revealed afterwards that he had been having problems with his grip on the darts from the very start of the match.

“Of course I am happy with the performance I won. That is the most important thing. I had sticky fingers from the beginning and I didn’t know how to deal with it," said Noppert.

According to the current world number ten, the warm conditions meant he had very little control over his usual throw. During the match he tried several ways to keep his fingers dry, but without much success.

“I tried to dry them on my shirt. I don’t know. It is hot over here but I won. It is not nice the way it goes now."

The former UK Open champion admitted that the match against Razma was nowhere near the standard both players are normally capable of producing.

“Both of us performed under the level we can show of course. This is the way it is. We have to deal with the weather.

Although Noppert's tournament ended in the last 16 with a narrow 6–5 defeat to fellow Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena, he can still look back on a solid season on the PDC circuit.

Earlier this year, the 35-year-old reached the final of the German Darts Grand Prix and also produced strong performances with quarter-final runs at both the World Masters and the UK Open.

Still, the Slovak Darts Open is likely to be remembered by Noppert as a tournament in which it was not his opponents, but the conditions, that caused him the biggest problems. At the time he was unsure what he could do to remedy it before his run ended to Wattimena.

“I don’t know what I have to do tomorrow. It is the same weather. Hopefully not the same problems. But I don’t know what to do. Maybe some people have some tips to send over to me.”