Boris Krcmar provided a huge upset in the opening round of the 2024 Poland Darts Masters. The 44-year-old Croatian beat two-time major winner Nathan Aspinall 6-4 on Friday night.
Aspinall initially managed to turn an 0-2 deficit into a 3-2 lead, but was broken again in the seventh leg by a fine 78 finish from his Croatian opponent. With a 70 check-out in the tenth leg Krcmar finally put a 6-4 final score on the scoreboard. Moreover, he also recorded a nice average of 98.
"I feel great," he reflected afterward in conversation with the assembled press. "Nathan is one of the best players in the world. I played well tonight; I was a little bit nervous but I managed to win, so I’m very happy. I hope I can keep this form going, and I will give it my best tomorrow.”
In the quarterfinals later tonight, things don't exactly get any easier for Krcmar as the big Croat will take on Michael van Gerwen, who eased past Karel Sedlacek in his won first round game in Poland. "I hope I can keep this average but we will see tomorrow," previews Krcmar, not getting too far ahead of himself just yet.
Krcmar finally had some nice words to say for the raucous Polish crowd in attendance at the second edition of the World Series of Darts tournament. "The crowd was phenomenal, really phenomenal!" he says with a beaming smile on his face. "It's very nice to play in front of a crowd like this, I like it."
At the most recent World Darts Championship, Krcmar also showed he can more than compete with the very best players in the world on the big. At the Ally Pally, he defeated Keegan Brown (3-1) and Dirk van Duijvenbode (3-1) before Krcmar lost out in the third round to two-time world champion Gary Anderson (4-1).