Munich-based 18-year-old
Liam Maendl-Lawrance made his Euro Tour debut at the International Darts Open last weekend.
He attracted attention with a 6-4 win over Richie Burnett, before being eliminated in the second round by Danny Noppert. With DAZN, Maendl-Lawrance looked back on his performance in Riesa.
"In the beginning, of course everything was new with the stage and the people in the hall. And then to play there with him (Burnett). You always had to watch out when he throws his third dart'' , Maendl-Lawrance alluded to the fact that Burnett has a habit of stretching his left leg far back after releasing the last dart.
So in the second round, Maendl-Lawrance played Danny Noppert. The German recorded a better average and finish percentage than the Dutchman, but had to acknowledge his superiority to Noppert 6-5.
"Of course it hurt. But when you play that for the first time, you are happy to be there and have fun and look at it all positively," Maendl-Lawrance looked back on the match and rated his nervousness on a scale of 1 to 10. "Seven against Burnett. Against Noppert, it was a 4 or 5. You get used to it extremely quickly. Then it's also just addictive and fun to play while people are cheering you on.''
Finally, the German darter showed ambition about the future. ''I want to be in the top-32 in five years and in the top-22 in seven years. But first let's see what it looks like in five years.''