9-Darter in Round One: José de Sousa as Mourinho at the Darts European Championships

José de Sousa couldn’t stop grinning. “It’s really outstanding. Throwing the 9-darter on stage is a big deal. Something great players do. And now I’m starting to do these things myself. I didn’t think that would happen, ”he said after his opening win at the European Darts Championship in Oberhausen.

In the 6: 3 against Jeffrey de Zwaan from the Netherlands, he had the perfect game in the second leg. For the first round he only needed 13 darts. For the fourth time in the history of the European Championship, after Adrian Lewis (2011), Michael van Gerwen (2014) and Kyle Anderson (2017), a player made the 9-darter. And for the first time ever in the history of the sport, it was a Portuguese who accomplished the feat in front of running TV cameras.

A special, special evening for de Sousa and his sport on the southwest coast of Europe, which gave de Sousa a new nickname: “The special one”, based on the football coach José Mourinho. A reporter asked the 46-year-old if he saw it that way. “Yes of course. I also do crazy things, ”replied the blissful Portuguese quick-witted.

Now de Sousa wants to be in the top 16

Even in the euphoria, he was not tempted to put himself in line with the multiple master coach and winner of the Champions League. But he does predict the consequences of his increase in form, which brought the current number 36 in the world rankings two weeks ago to victory at the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen: “I can achieve great goals. The Top16 are possible. “

also read

Above all, this success could have an impact on his home country. “I think that I will have inspired several people in Portugal, but also in Spain,” said the only Portuguese Tourcard holder: “We have a lot of talented players but they have to work hard. I waited 26 years to be here. But when I’m here, others can do it too. “

Many had hoped that the two German participants would have similar effects on the national scene. But the seeding list for the final tournament of the 32 best European Tour players did not mean it well with Max Hopp and Gabriel Clemens.

also read

Hopp, who had reached the semi-finals at the 2018 European Championship, started against Jonny Clayton with a 180, broke the Welshman directly in 15 darts and took the lead 2-0, but had to make up a 2-3 deficit after the break . He managed to do this in an impressive manner up to 5: 3. After winning the eighth leg with the highest possible finish of 170, he already had one leg in the round of 16, but missed a match dart on Bull in his throw-off leg and another in the decider at 5: 5 on the double-20 . Clayton won just 6: 5.

Clemens, who went to a tournament as the German number one for the first time, was subsequently defeated 3: 6 against world champion Peter Wright despite an average above the 100 mark, so that the 250 admitted spectators could not keep their fingers crossed for any German player.

also read

“It’s a difficult time, but it’s great to have people in the audience. That is important, “said de Sousa, who was infected with Corona himself in August and had to stay in quarantine at home for two weeks. He will now meet Hopp-conqueror Clayton on Friday. The sessions start at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. and are broadcast live by the DAZN streaming service.

The first round at a glance

Jamie Hughes – Dave Chisnall 6:5

Steve West – Krzystof Ratajski 6:5

Ian White – Mervyn King 6:2

José de Sousa – Jeffrey de Zwaan 6: 3

James Wade – Steve Lennon 6:5

Devon Petersen – Andy Hamilton 6:1

Michael Smith – Ross Smith 6:5

Dirk van Duijvenbode – Danny Noppert 6: 0

Nathan Aspinall – Maik Kuivenhoven 6:3

William O‘Connor – Joe Cullen 6:3

Martijn Kleermarker – Rob Cross 6: 3

Jonny Clayton – Max Hopp 6: 5

Michael van Gerwen – Darius Labanauskas 6: 1

Gerwyn Price – Kim Huybrechts 6: 1

Peter Wright – Gabriel Clemens 6:3

Mensur Suljovic – Daryl Gurney 6:2

The last sixteen

William O‘Connor – Jamie Hughes

Devon Petersen – Martijn Kleermaker

José de Sousa – Jonny Clayton

Nathan Aspinall – James Wade

Michael Smith – Dirk van Duijvenbode

Gerwyn Price – Peter Wright

Michael van Gerwen – Ian White

Mensur Suljovic – Steve West

_________

*Display: Every viewer has the opportunity to watch the game live on the DAZN streaming service (11.99 euros per month). If you don’t have a subscription, you can watch the game for free. DAZN offers all new customers the opportunity to test the offer for one month free of charge. You can cancel the subscription within the first month.