Nentjes overwhelmed by the crowd at Alexandra Palace: "I thought what is happening here?"

Things didn't work out for Geert Nentjes in his opening match at the World Darts Championship. Leonard Gates proved too strong 3-1.

The American was clearly hyped prior to the match. Thanks to his superb walkon, the public chose Gates' side en masse.

USA, USA, USA it sounded from the hall. "I thought: what is happening here," Nentjes told Algemeen Dagblad. "I thought: 'USA? No, it has to be the Netherlands!' But anyway, I knew this in advance, it wasn't because of that. I was just way too nervous."

Because nerves still bothered Nentjes a lot, despite the fact that it was not his first time on the stage in London. "It had been three years since I stood here so it's not like I remembered what that was like yesterday. It's just a matter of playing on that stage more."