Van Duijvenbode doesn't care about matches in afternoon session: 'My opponent always suffers more'

Dirk van Duijvenbode secured a place in the last sixteen at the Grand Slam of Darts on Sunday afternoon by beating Rob Cross in his second group match.

The Dutchman won 5-3 after falling behind 3-1 earlier in the match. Van Duijvenbode threw many innings without a triple in the early stages, but another point frustrated 'Aubergenius' even more, he said afterwards.

''The scores without trebles did not bother me, but once I threw them I did not manage to throw a few more. I threw scores of 85, 83 or 81. That bothered me more than the scores without trebles. Fortunately I threw that 10-darter (in the fifth leg, ed.) and that was the moment the darts no longer went into the 1 or 5. I was very happy with that. Fortunately, I then persevered and Rob Cross completely lost it. That was unfortunate for him and nice for me.''

Although Van Duijvenbode is already through, he still has a mission in his final group match against Adam Gawlas. ''I want to be group winner, that's worth more than a quarterfinal on a Pro Tour. I am playing for the ranking and I would like to have that £3,500.

Van Duijvenbode played his first two matches in the afternoon session. Very much the former World Grand Prix finalist did not mind. ''I think everyone prefers to play in the evening. Only I am someone who still works (during the week). My first practice starts at 9.30 in the morning. So I think I'm more used to playing at this time than others. So in that respect I like it, my opponent always suffers more than me.''