The Darts World Cup has only just begun and yet Swiss sports history was already written in match two on the opening evening. Stefan Bellmont was the first player from his country to step onto the legendary Ally Pally stage on Sunday evening. At the start, Belli faced the Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena.
As expected, the machine gun started the game by winning its throwing leg. Bellmont, who had already hit a maximum in leg one, set another highlight with an 82 checkout in leg two and leveled the score at 1-1 in 18 darts. However, Wattimena subsequently turned up the scoring, won the third leg in 14 darts and secured the first set with a strong break in 13 darts.
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The Dutchman, who was in top condition, especially towards the end of this season, had now arrived in the match. Wattimena checked 95 points impressively via single 15 – tops – tops and took the lead 1-0 with a break. The 36-year-old then saved his throw in the legs to make it 2-0. But Bellmont fought back in leg three with shots of 134 and 140 points and made it 1-2. However, Wattimena was hard to break due to his scoring strength and secured the 2-0 set lead in 13 darts.
Bellmont, who seemed to have no problems with the Ally Pally stage, continued to sell dearly. The Swiss also achieved a maximum in the third set, so that he was able to comfortably secure the break in the first leg on double 8. Wattimena attacked his opponent's throwing leg with another 180, which Bellmont countered with a maximum of his own. The Dutchman finally got the upper hand and made it 1-1 in the third set.
Once again it was Wattimena's high-class scoring that gave him a lead of over 250 points in his own throw and allowed him to safely check to make it 2-1 in the legs. When Wattimena reached 40 points remaining in the fourth leg, Bellmont already had its back against the wall. But the Swiss showed his class and checked 83 points ice cold on double 9. He almost had another spectacular moment in the following leg when he missed double 12 for a 129 checkout to win the set. Wattimena converted his darts to tops, checked 57 points and moved into the second round with 3-0 in the sets. The Dutchman will return to the World Darts Championship stage tomorrow afternoon in a match against James Wade.
By Nic Gayer
