DIRK ERUPTS AFTER REF CALLS ILLEGAL MOVE

By Phil Lanning

FIRED-UP Dirk Van Duijvenbode had an angry exchange with referee Charlie Corstorphine after his final dart was deemed ILLEGAL.

In his Players Championship clash with Madars Razma on Friday night, the big Dutchman launched the last arrow in frustration.

As he approached the oche, ref Corstorphine announced that the final dart “did not count”.

Van Duijvenbode immediately remonstrated with the caller and pointed his finger as Corstorphine explained and defended his decision.

The crowd on stage two in Minehead jeered as the Dutchman clearly showed his annoyance towards the referee.

Just to annoy him further, Latvian Razma ended his hopes in the Championship by hitting double four to win 6-3.

After shaking hands with Razma, Van Duijvenbode then confronted Corstorphine and Scoring Official Scott Gibling to discuss the incident.

He then appeared to accept their verdict of why the dart was disqualified and the exchange ended amicably.

Ex-pro and commentator Paul Nicholson said: “Controversy on the stage as Dirk didn’t agree that was an illegal last dart.

“Charlie backed up by board official Scott Gibling, who is about as experienced as you get.”

Fellow commentator Dan McCarthy added: “Dirk Van Duijvenbode is livid in defeat. It wasn’t his evening here in Minehead.

“He might be having one or two words with the officials just to get an explanation as to what happened.

“But he launched that final dart away in real frustration and Dirk Van Duijvenbode has exited early.”

The Professional Darts Corporation stated today: “The referee deemed it as an illegal throwing action.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.