''I was lucky that he did not take his chances" - Richard Veenstra relieved to make winning debut at the Ally Pally despite not being at his best

Richard Veenstra got off to a good start on his debut at the World Darts Championship. Ben Robb was defeated 3-0, mainly thanks to the vast difference in finishing between the pair.

The New Zealander had enough opportunities to hurt Veenstra, but failed each time on the important doubles. The experienced Richard Veenstra was impeccable, punished and finally won 3-0 in sets. He will play Belgian Kim Huybrechts on Saturday afternoon. Veenstra is satisfied with the win, but not with his play. ''If you win it's always good, then the rest doesn't matter. My level was not very good.'' However, Veenstra also had because his opponent was not in a good position. ''I was lucky that he did not take his chances. Then you already think: this will be my night.''

Veenstra admits there may have been some tension on stage after all. ''I have all my family with me. I thought beforehand that I would be able to get away from that on stage and throw an average of 100, but that really wasn't possible."

Veenstra indicated in the interview with Arjan van der Giessen that he suffered from problems early in the match. ''I really couldn't find it in the beginning of the game. Right before the match I already felt that I didn't have the range. It wasn't until the last set that it felt a little good.''

Veenstra concludes the interview positively. ''I'm very happy with this win. You have to get a final on the Pro Tour for that (the prize money ed.)."