"Every time my back was against the wall I played so much better" - Jelle Klaasen fights back from the brink to keep Lakeside hopes alive

Jelle Klaasen kept his hopes of a second Lakeside title alive on Thursday day, although he needed to survive matchdarts from opponent Dennie Olde Kalter to prevail 3-2.

Despite averaging around ten points higher than his compatriot, Klaasen was chasing throughout and found himself down 1-0 and 2-1 at points. "I missed so many doubles but every time my back was against the wall I played so much better and focused more," the 2006 Lakeside champion reflected post-match. "I didn't feel that great today but I'm happy with the win."

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As mentioned, there was a big discrepancy in the averages with Klaasen hovering around 94 for most the match and Olde Kalter around 84. "I felt like I was scoring way better than him. But yeah, if you miss two or three darts at a double multiple times in a set, you're not going to win the sets. He was finishing well too," Klaasen says on the subject.

One such example of Olde Kalter's finishing prowess was a ton-plus checkout that put him two legs clear in the final set and Klaasen firmly at the point of no return. "The whole game, I felt I was scoring way better. So I thought, 'if just keep going, you'll get chances' and even when I went two down I just had to hold my own leg and then only have to break him once to finish the game on my own leg and yeah, luckily I I did."

In the quarter-finals, Klaasen will face off against American, Danny Lauby Jr. After he defeated compatriot Leonard Gates 3-0.

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