Na zijn eerste WK-zege ooit in de eerste ronde belde Niels Zonneveld nog met zijn opa en oma en vertelden ze hoe trots ze waren. Gisteren overleed zijn oma plotseling. 💬 'Mijn opa zei: ‘je móet spelen’. Hij zei dat mijn oma het had het gewild' ad.nl/darts/wk-exit-…
"Unfortunately, she didn't get to experience this" - Heartbroken Niels Zonneveld defeated by Ross Smith just two days after death of his Grandmother
PDCWednesday, 20 December 2023 at 20:30
After a day full of emotions, Niels Zonneveld has been eliminated from the World Darts Championship in London. A day after the death of his grandmother, Zonneveld lost in the second round of the World Championship against Ross Smith (3-1).
This sad circumstance followed two days after Zonneveld achieved one of the highlights of his career. Sunday night, the Dutchman won a World Championship match for the first time in his career.
The joy vanished for Zonneveld when he was told on Tuesday that his grandmother had died. For a moment, the 25-year-old Dutchman doubted whether he wanted to play Wednesday, but he decided to do it anyway.
''My grandfather said, 'You must play.' He said my grandmother had wanted it. Then you can't do anything but push the button and play. It's fighting the emotions, but she had wanted me to win here and I tried, but I can't really blame myself that it didn't work out."
After his win last Sunday, Zonneveld was still in touch with both his grandparents. ''They said they were very proud and how exciting they thought it was. The bond with my grandparents is very close. Grandpa keeps track of everything, all the rankings, all the scores, he sometimes knows how to tell it better than I do. So does grandma. Unfortunately, she didn't get to experience this," said Zonneveld.
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