"The two of them aren't actually that good" - Michael van Gerwen not impressed despite heavy defeat against Belgium at World Cup of Darts

For the Netherlands, the World Cup of Darts ended in a big disappointment. Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert went down 8-2 against Belgium in the second round.

Van Gerwen and Noppert, however, far from played poorly and even achieved a higher average (100.96) than the Belgians (97.31). "They punished everything," Van Gerwen opened to Viaplay in his post-match interview. "There are also a lot of legs where we missed doubles ourselves. And they throw out four fantastic finishes while we throw a good leg of our own. That hurts. That really shouldn't happen. The two of them aren't actually that good."

"We were running behind," Noppert adds. "It just wasn't there tonight." Although Van Gerwen absolutely disagrees. "It was there. It's not just about the doubles. A little bit of luck on their side. A little bit of bad luck on our side. Then you get a match like that. Then it takes a lot of effort."

For Van Gerwen, this was the second time he entered the World Cup of Darts alongside Noppert. "I think we're pretty good as a pair," he said. "We do feel each other," Noppert added. "We did play a goodish match in the end," Van Gerwen said. "We didn't fail. I think we are the only pair with an average above 100."

According to Noppert, the elimination came very hard, yet he still saw a small bright spot. "This means a day early vacation, as of Monday I will be in Ibiza," he said.

In the next round, the Belgian pairing of Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri van den Bergh will face off against Italy (Michele Turetta and Massimo Dalla Rosa), after the Azzurra stunned former World Cup of Darts champions Australia (Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta) in their respective last 16 tie on Saturday afternoon.

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