Jurjen van der Velde apologizes after wasp-spray stunt and PDC reprimand: “There were people allergic to it”

The 2026 PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace has taken an unexpected turn for nature this year, but Jurjen van der Velde’s appearance on Tuesday night came with an extra twist. The Frisian debutant walked on stage before his match against Danny Noppert carrying a can of wasp spray. What was meant as a playful nod to the now notorious ‘Ally Pally wasp’ went down less well with the PDC’s organizers.

Van der Velde lost the all-Frisian clash 3-1 in sets to the world number six, but the post-match conversation was as much about his unusual stunt as the match itself. “It was meant as a joke, but I did get a bollocking,” Van der Velde admitted afterwards to the Dutch media. “I sprayed that stuff, but that wasn’t such a smart idea from me.”

The PDC intervened quickly. The darts body warned Van der Velde that using spray on stage carries risks, including potential allergic reactions among players, officials, or the crowd. “I was told right after the first set by the PDC,” the Frisian explained. “I thought: great to hear that straight away, because I lost the first set and then you’ve still got to regroup. It does take you out of the match a bit.”

Van der Velde stressed there was no malice behind it. “But there were people allergic to it. Well, it certainly wasn’t my intention and I told the PDC that straight away: sorry about that.”

For Van der Velde, playing at Alexandra Palace was a special experience regardless. The debutant spoke visibly emotional about the moment he first stepped onto the Worlds stage.

“This is what I dreamed of as a kid. I watched guys like Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor and all those other legends who stood here. And now I’m here. So awesome. I wanted this so badly.”

Despite the defeat, the Frisian savored the occasion. “Maybe this was my last time. I’m going to watch back all the clips of what I experienced tonight. My dad was here for the first time too.”

That made the night even more charged. “Sorry, here I go again. The man is always busy on the farm so I wanted one thing, and that was for him to be here. That he was here, I think that’s fantastic.”

From a sporting perspective, Van der Velde had little to reproach himself. He started strongly, broke Noppert in the opening leg, and later impressively took the second set. For a moment, an upset seemed on the cards.

“After 1-1 I thought: right then, put the foot down. But that’s when Danny found another gear. Besides that Audi he has with six gears, he found a seventh one here, haha.”

From that point, Noppert took complete control. With a 135 checkout and a set average of almost 110 in the fourth, ‘The Freeze’ restored order.

Van der Velde put the loss to his fellow provincial into perspective. “That’s totally fine, I’ll only learn from this. Danny made four major semi-finals this year. You don’t do that by accident.”