Mark McGeeney and Deta Hedman have successfully defended their BAUHAUS Dutch Open Darts title. McGeeney won in a replay of the Lakeside final of Glen Durrant, making him the winner of the Jilles Vermaat Trophy. Hedman defeated Aileen de Graaf in the women’s finals.

The men’s final of the Dutch Open Darts was a high-level match. Mark McGeeney started strong and took the first set with 3-1. The second set seemed to go to Durrant after he was 2-0 up. McGeeney, however, battled back and grabbed that set. In the fourth set we saw four breaks, after which McGeeney was allowed to throw for the game. He started that leg with a 140 and 180. After two missed match darts, he hit the third.
The final of the ladies seemed to be on the sided, Aileen de Graaf took a 3-0 and 4-1 lead and got three darts for the game at 4-2, but missed. One leg later, the Dutch got another chance to win the game. This time she got six darts, but she couldn’t hit the final double. Hedman equalised and won the deciding leg. She again became the Dutch Open Darts champion.

Wesley Harms and Richard Veenstra defeated Yoeri Duijster and Dave van der Zande in the men’s pairs tournament. The surprising finalists, Duijster and Van der Zande, took a 3-1 lead in the final, but eventually lost 5-3. Harms and Veenstra missed seven matchdarts, before they hit the final double. Among the ladies Lorraine Winstanley and Corrine Hammond were the winners. They defeated Trina Gulliver and Paula Jacklin, who eliminated the defending champions De Graaf / Prins in the semi-finals.

The finals of the Dutch Open Youth were also played. The tournament, which started on Sunday, had three competitions: boys under 18, girls and boys under 14. Keanu van Velzen, who became the boys under 14 champion last year, crowned himself as boys under 18 champion. The girls tournament was won by Ksenia Klochek. She did not lose any leg in the entire tournament and did not do so in the final: Lerena Rietbergen was beaten 3-0. The English Maison Wilson became is the new boys under 14 champion of 2018. He defeated Dinand Hoek 3-0.

Photo: Evert Zomer