Whitlock continued to fight and little by little he crept closer. With a score of 14-13 and Whitlock on a throw, Van Gerwen managed to throw 146 out. It seemed to be the decisive hit. Van Gerwen then got three chances to throw out the game, but was unable to cash in. Whitlock remained cool and eventually managed to force a decisive leg.
In that decisive leg it could go in any direction. Van Gerwen had five more chances to win the match, but they all went wrong. Whitlock again stayed cool and decided the game with his second chance.
“I am very sick of this”, Van Gerwen responded afterwards in front of the camera of RTL 7. “If you miss so many arrows before the match, then you just have to pack your things and go home. I’m so fed up with this, that is not normal. I’m on my way to my good form so well, then you lose a match like that.
Van den Bergh and Aspinall also go all the way
Whitlock will meet Portuguese José de Sousa in the semi-finals on Monday. The other semifinal is between James Wade and Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Wade got rid of the Australian Damon Heta and Van den Bergh settled with Nathan Aspinall in a thriller. The 26-year-old Van den Bergh could initially only follow, partly because he missed many doubles.
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