"Really unfortunate that the crowd got behind Aspinall" - Noppert unimpressed by lack of home crowd support in Amsterdam

Danny Noppert was unable to make it into the quarter-finals of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. 'The Freeze' lost 6-3 to Nathan Aspinall in the second round.

Noppert was especially disappointed in the Dutch audience afterwards. which loudly sang Aspinall's praises. "I thought it was really unfortunate that the crowd got behind him," Noppert said to AD.nl. "Standing in the Netherlands throwing against Nathan Aspinall ... That did make me angry. Sometimes you can use that anger, but yes ... this hurts me."

"I was still saying to Nathan: it looked like you were throwing in England. Everyone was for him. They don't have to boo him, but I really wondered where I was standing. I'm standing in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. I made another gesture to the audience of 'what is this?' Who are you guys actually for?"

Noppert expected much more from this tournament. "I have thrown enough tournaments in the Netherlands where everyone was behind me, against Dirk van Duijvenbode it was also fairly divided, but that was really hard tonight. Of course, family is there and they are behind me, but this was really hard for me."

As a result, the 32-year-old Dutchman found it difficult to maintain concentration during his match against Aspinall. "I was distracted by it. You want the crowd to be behind you and not start shouting Aspinall's name. When I play against him in England, I accept that and get it. Now you are in Amsterdam and they are still for Aspinall. He is a great person in darts, but it does disappoint me. In Germany I am always appreciated. Here you are in front of your own crowd... Of course it wasn't my best match and it's a bit of the Dutch mentality to criticize when Dutchmen play badly, but still..."