Noppert enjoyed being home hero in Leeuwarden: ''You don't experience so much noise every week''

At last weekend's Dutch Darts Championship, Danny Noppert had the pleasure of being the home hero in front of a raucous Leeuwarden crowd and it was an experience he thoroughly enjoyed.

The Freeze had started the tournament with victories over Madars Razma (6-1) and Nathan Aspinall (6-5), but then was defeated in the last eight against Luke Humphries (6-5).

Noppert was one arrow away from a semi-final place, but his match dart on tops from 102 just went wrong. ''I would have loved to hit that one... It wasn't to be. No, I didn't succumb to the pressure, certainly not'', Noppert said after his quarterfinals in a conversation with AD.nl.

A year ago, Noppert would almost immediately sign for a quarter-final spot, but the bar is now higher. 'Would I still be proud? No, I do not think so. This is really a painful defeat'', the 32-year-old darts player from Joure lamented.

The Frisian had enjoyed his home games in Leeuwarden, where a Euro Tour tournament was played for the first time. “It's just super, very special. It's not every week that you experience so much noise when you roll a double. I feel goosebumps all over my body.”