Van Duijvenbode after being embroiled in Koltsov thriller: "That felt unnecessary, I had the feeling I let him play well"

Dirk van Duijvenbode was embroiled in a top tungsten testosterone thriller on the Ally Pally stage in a game which delivered as per the pre match billing against Boris Koltsov.

But for Van Duijvenbode, he admitted he let Koltsov play well and should have been more clinical.

"That felt unnecessary for myself. I think he played well but I always had the feeling I let him play well. When I played like I can play, he was nowhere around," said Van Duijvenbode post match.

"Sometimes unlucky, sometimes not focused, sometimes not concentrated but I never felt nervous so that's what made me worry because you're too flat for this game to play well."

He also spoke about potentially not getting the rewards this year for how well he's been playing.

"I became a better player this year. I think my year average was three points higher over the whole year. I had some tough draws in the TV tournaments and the only game I didn't perform and lose to a player who wasn't top four in the world was Luke Humphries but he's also made a final.

"But the other game, I played the 55th seed in the Players Championship Finals, hits 108 average, I hit 105 average. What can I say."