"Unfortunately, I've been sick the past few days" - Illness strikes Danny Noppert in Saudi Arabia as attention is drawn towards earplugs

Danny Noppert was one of the eight PDC stars who were invited to step up to the oche at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Darts Masters. However, it was a debut to forget, as the Dutchman lost his opening match 6-3 to Man Lok Leung.

What stood out most during his match was that he wore earplugs, even though the atmosphere in the Riyadh arena was noticeably more subdued than usual. Since earplugs are meant to dampen ambient noise, Danny Noppert’s choice was, at the very least, striking.

The public alcohol ban in Saudi Arabia played a major role in that. As a result, the event paled in comparison to the festive, often chaotic atmosphere that surrounds the World Darts Championship each year at the iconic Alexandra Palace.

No mass chanting, no beer steins flying, but a crowd in Riyadh that politely applauded high checkouts and quality scoring. Afterwards, the world number 10 also revealed another reason why his performance in Saudi Arabia on Monday evening fell short. "Unfortunately, I've been sick the past few days," he shared on his Instagram page. "You could tell by my performance today. Sorry for my presentation today, but you'll be hearing a lot more from me in 2026."

One reason Noppert may have opted for earplugs is that sounds in quieter venues carry more to the players. Nathan Aspinall, who did win 6-1 against Lourence Ilagan, experienced something similar last week during his match against Gian van Veen at the Bahrain Darts Masters.

“Sometimes it’s harder when it’s quiet,” explained 'The Asp,' “If it’s quiet, you’ll hear everything, like the odd person shouting something out. It puts you off." He then referred to his recent experience in Bahrain. When I played Gian, I had three darts at 10 and I was just about to throw and someone shouted: ‘Double 10, double 10.’ It puts you off. You have to reset and go again. "Sometimes when it is quieter and smaller it’s harder to play than your big Premier League arenas."

That was the case again in Riyadh. "You throw a dart at treble 20 and they would clap – and yet you still have another two darts in your hand,"Aspinall laughed. “We’d throw for a double six and miss on the outside and they would clap. That’s why I kept laughing. It was quite funny."