The overall victory at the 2024 WDF Italian Open has fallen to Brian Raman. 'The Riddler' won a WDF tournament for the fourth time in his career by beating his compatriot Xanti van den Bergh in the final.
The Belgian started his tournament with a 4-2 victory over Alex Bassetti and then qualified for the quarterfinals after a fine 4-0 win over Wesley Plaisier. In the last eight, Raman eliminated Jimmy van Schie (4-1), who had won the Italian Grand Masters.
Fellow countryman Van den Bergh also joined the last four after wins over Daniel Skoda (4-2), Stefano Tomassetti (4-2) and Kai-Fan Leung (4-2). Next came a Belgian final after Raman won 4-1 over Daniel Zapata, while Van den Bergh settled with Ryan Branley (4-1).
The final was actually not exciting for a moment. Thanks in part to a nice 126 finish, Raman took a 4-0 lead. Raman missed chances in the fifth leg to decide the match, after which Van den Bergh got on the scoreboard. Van den Bergh then also threw out 101 to cut the deficit to 4-2. Raman then pulled away to take the final victory.
In the ladies, the title went to Irina Armstrong. The German player won consecutively over Sara Foconetti (4-1), Margaret Sutton (4-0), Anca Zijlstra (4-1) and Aletta Wajer (5-4).
Quarterfinals
Brian Raman 4-1 Jimmy van Schie
Daniel Zapata 4-0 Tonny Veenhof
Ryan Branley 4-2 Scott Walters
Xanti van den Bergh 4-2 Kai-Fan Leung
Semi-final
Brian Raman 4-1 Daniel Zapata
Xanti van den Bergh 4-1 Ryan Branley
Final
Brian Raman 5-2 Xanti van den Bergh
Ladies
Quarterfinals
Aletta Wajer 4-2 Kelly Streef
Lerena Rietbergen 4-0 Paula Jacklin
Irina Armstrong 4-0 Margaret Sutton
Anca Zijlstra 4-3 Greta Tekauer
Semi-final
Aletta Wajer 4-3 Lerena Rietbergen
Irina Armstrong 4-1 Anca Zijlstra
Final
Irina Armstrong 5-4 Aletta Wajer
ITALIAN OPEN GLORY FOR RAMAN! Brian Raman beats protégé Xanti van den Bergh in an all-Belgian final to win the 2024 Italian Open. Raman, who beat Wesley Plaisier and Jimmy van Schie in the earlier rounds, threw two 180s and a 126 finish as he won 5-2. 📸: Tip Top Pics
