"You’re just sick in the head" - Vincent van der Voort quips trolls sending Danny Noppert hate should go to a psychiatric hospital

Danny Noppert recently shared, after his early exit at the European Darts Open against Sebastian Bialecki, a number of vile messages he had received on Instagram. Koert Westerman and Vincent van de Voort also spoke out on Monday evening, ahead of ‘The Freeze’ his opening match against Rob Cross at the World Matchplay, which the Dutchman ultimately lost 10-3, about the growing online hate faced by darts players. In the Viaplay broadcast, the senders of the messages were certainly not spared.

Westerman set the tone by referring to the messages Noppert himself had shared on Instagram and Facebook. The Frisian showed the hurtful reactions he received after his defeat.

“I read a very nasty post on both Instagram and Facebook from Danny Noppert,” Westerman began. “He had posted what he’s been getting. And what almost moved me to tears was that his mother’s illness was dragged into it.”

Van de Voort reacted irritably and had little sympathy for people who send such messages. “Look, on the one hand you say: you shouldn’t give it any attention at all. Because these are just people who are so limited. If you start posting that kind of thing, then you’re not right in the head,” said the former pro darter.

“It’s probably someone in assisted living. And if not, he needs assistance very quickly. In the past, people like that would just go to the Pieter Baan Centre (psychiatric observation clinic),” he continued.

Westerman shared his colleague’s frustration and suggested this kind of behavior seems to be happening more often. “They don’t have time anymore,” he said cynically. “There’s a waiting list from here to Tokyo. People are getting crazier and crazier altogether.”

Van de Voort then went into more detail about the content of the messages Noppert received. He believes a line is crossed when family members are dragged into the abuse. “If you write things like hoping someone’s family dies of cancer, while that’s already happened… Then you’re just sick in the head yourself.”

Even so, the former UK Open finalist believes players shouldn’t dwell too long on such messages, however painful they are. “Again, I don’t think you should give it too much attention. You’re not going to stop it.”

Westerman then pointed out that Noppert’s post also had a positive effect. According to him, the Dutch darter received a lot of support from the darts community and fans. “The unintended effect was that an outpouring of love for Danny was shared.”

Van de Voort agreed, but stressed that players will never win against people who keep sending this kind of abuse. “Once in a while it’s good to show it. But after that you have to close it off, because you’re not going to beat those lunatics.”

According to Van de Voort, Noppert is certainly not the only player dealing with this. He cited Luke Humphries, who lost his opening match at the World Matchplay to Cameron Menzies, as an example. “I think Humphries is already getting a ton of messages again because he lost. People have bet on him and then wish him the most bizarre things. There are just a lot of idiots walking around in the world.”