WATTIMENA BLASTS PDC FOR LACK OF FACILITIES AT WORLD MATCHPLAY
21/07/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
JERMAINE WATTIMENA blasted the PDC for a lack of practice facilities behind the scenes at the Winter Gardens.
World No. 30 Wattimena caused one of the biggest shocks of the World Matchplay on Sunday afternoon after dumping out Peter Wright in round one.
Dutch thrower Wattimena fired in a stunning 138 checkout and held a solid 91.81 average to overcome ‘Snakebite’ 10-8, finally ending his four-match losing run at Blackpool.
But the 37-year-old didn’t hold back in his criticism on the limited availability of dartboards at the venue and questioned why players aren’t given better opportunities to warm up.
He told Sportsniews.nl: “It’s not very well organised by the PDC.
“You’re not allowed to throw in here, and the hotels don’t have practice boards either. That’s just poor from the PDC, I think.
“They say they have space for only six boards — just for the players on that day.
“Then I think: why not arrange a board in the hotel for the rest of us?”
Former European Championship finalist Wattimena admits he’s one of the lucky few to have a dartboard at his hotel though conditions are far from ideal.
He added: “There’s no oche, just a sticker on the floor.
“But yeah, what can you do with that? On the Euro Tour, it’s sorted — there you have proper boards to practise on. But not here.
“How am I supposed to prepare for my next match?
“Nice and relaxed. Just enjoying beautiful Blackpool — where the facades are practically falling apart.
“They should send some Polish guys over — they’d do a decent job plastering this place.”
‘The Machine Gun’ had a steady start to the year and reached the final of the Players Championship 18 last month.
Wattimena returns to action on Wednesday and will face Luke Littler in the last 16 of the Matchplay.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
