Van Duijvenbode reaches second round of The Masters and meets Price | Sports Other

Dirk van Duijvenbode reached the second round at The Masters in Milton Keynes on Friday. The thirty-year-old darts player won 6-3 in legs against the Polish Krzysztof Ratajski in the first round and will face Gerwyn Price in the second round on Saturday.

Van Duijvenbode and Ratajski, who is twentieth on the Order of Merit, were tied until 3-3, after which ‘Aubergenius’ took distance and won the match with convincing numbers. The Dutchman, number thirteen on the Order of Merit, had an average of 92.1, while Ratajski did not exceed 83.5.

It will be difficult for Van Duijvenbode to get further, because with Price he will meet a world top player. The Welshman became world champion in 2021.

Danny Noppert and Michael van Gerwen did not have to play in the first round of The Masters, a tournament for the best 24 darts players in the world. The Frisian and the three-time world champion only enter in the second round.

Noppert will meet the winner of the confrontation between Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting on Saturday afternoon and Van Gerwen will face Jose de Sousa or Gabriel Clemens in the evening. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the tournament in Milton Keynes will be played on Sunday.

Van Gerwen won The Masters five times, in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Joe Cullen is the defending champion this year.

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