Paul Krohne triumphs at the Dutch Open, the world’s largest darts tournament. The German impressively fought his way back and kept his nerve in the final.
Paul Krohne clasped his hands in front of his face, barely able to believe his luck. The 25-year-old sensationally won the Dutch Open in Assen, Netherlands, making him the first German in history to do so.
At the world’s largest darts tournament, held since 1973, 4096 (!) participants competed in the singles event over the weekend. 128 players qualified for the final day, but no one could stop Krohne.
Paul Krohne became the first German to win the Dutch Darts Open
Darts: Krohne Impressively Fights Back in the Final
In the final, the player from Münster defeated Dutchman Corné Groeneveld 3:2 in sets. Krohne was already 0:2 sets and 1:2 legs down. But after Groeneveld checked the Big Fish – the highest possible finish in darts with 170 points – he struggled to put anything together. Krohne, on the other hand, grew stronger and secured the victory.
Florian Hempel also impressed and qualified for the final day. However, he had to concede defeat to Ron Meulenkamp (Netherlands) with a 3:4 score in the round of the last 64.
For the victory, Krohne receives 6,000 Euros in prize money. There are no points for the PDC world ranking. The WDF tournament does not count towards that ranking. However, the former PDC Tour Card holder has thus secured qualification for the WDF World Championship.