Jelle Klaasen
Encyclopedia
Jelle Klaasen is a Dutch
professional darts
player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation
and is the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship. His nickname is The Matador. He lives in Breda
, North Brabant
, Netherlands
. He is an ethnic Indonesian.
in the final of the 2006 BDO World Championship
by 7 sets to 5. He also beat Shaun Greatbatch
and world number one Mervyn King on his way to the final. Before the championship, he was said to be a 100-1 outsider to win the title as he did not even have a BDO Tour ranking.
Klaasen returned to the Lakeside
to defend his World title at the 2007 Championship
. Klaasen was unseeded for the event after a poor run of form and was facing the seeded Co Stompé
, with eventual winner Martin Adams
waiting in round two should he win.
Klaasen became the sixth defending champion to fall at the first hurdle in his title defence with his first round loss to fellow countryman Stompé by three sets to nil. Although Klaasen was lower in the rankings
at the time, it was considered an upset as Stompé had not won at the Lakeside in the previous four years.
The day after the final it was announced that Klaasen would be defecting to the rival Professional Darts Corporation
, alongside two fellow countrymen, Michael van Gerwen
and Vincent van der Voort
. The BDO planned to take legal action as Jelle had a year left on his contract.
in 2005 ended with a 2-3 defeat to Irishman Steve McDonald. In 2006 he was seeded 13 but suffered a straight sets defeat in his first match against fellow Dutchman Mario Robbe
.
As World Champion, he was invited to the 2006 World Darts Trophy
in his home country, but lost 0-3 to Tony Eccles
in the first round. In 2007 he won in the first round 3-1 against reigning PDC world champion van Barneveld, shortly after that he lost in the second round to Andy Hamilton
.
He also played in the 2006 International Darts League
and beat 13-times World Champion Phil Taylor 7-6 in his last group match, but it was not enough to qualify for the knockout stages. He beat Andy Fordham
and Dick van Dijk but lost to Adams, Greatbatch and Colin Lloyd
in his other group matches.
. He competed at most of the Pro Tour events (Players Championships and UK Open Regional Finals) to improve his ranking. He reached the quarter-finals of two non-televised Pro Tour events before winning a Players Championship - the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic in November which saw him climb to 49 in the Order of Merit. He only made it into one televised PDC event in the UK during 2007 (the UK Open where he reached the last 32) but his form towards the end of the year ensured automatic qualification for the 2008 World Championship - his debut in the PDC version. He lost in the first round to fellow Dutchman van der Voort in a sudden death leg, having missed ten darts to win the match.
He defeated Lloyd, Jan van der Rassel
and Hamilton to reach the quarter finals of the 2009 PDC World Championship
, only dropping one set in the process. In the Quarter Finals, he was beaten by fellow Dutchman van Barneveld by 5 sets to 1. Klaasen won the first set impressively but the match is memorable for the moment of history as van Barneveld threw a perfect nine-dart finish in the 6th set, the first ever live televised nine-dart finish in the World Championship.
In January 2009, Klaasen was chosen as one of the two wildcards for the 2009 Premier League Darts
tournament, where he will compete against Taylor, James Wade
, van Barneveld, John Part
, Terry Jenkins
, King and the other wildcard Wayne Mardle
.
Klaasen found life hard in the Premier League, losing 5 and drawing 2 of his opening 7 matches. On 26 March, Klaasen defeated Terry Jenkins 8-6 to finally record his first victory in the competition. Klaasen finished 7th in the Premier League after Wayne Mardle withdrew from the competition. Klaasen qualified for the World Matchplay in Blackpool but lost 10-8 to Ronnie Baxter
in the first round.
Klaasen lost in the first round of the 2010 World Championships losing 3-1 to Welshman Barrie Bates
. He then reached the quarter finals of the 2010 World Matchplay, beating Mervyn King and Gary Anderson
before losing to Simon Whitlock
.
Open, losing in the final to Martin Atkins
by 6 sets to 2. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open and Denmark Open during 2006.
He also won the Killarney Darts Festival in 2007, where he beat Vincent van der Voort 3-2.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
professional darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
and is the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship. His nickname is The Matador. He lives in Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
, North Brabant
North Brabant
North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He is an ethnic Indonesian.
World Championship performances
On 15 January 2006, he became the youngest World Darts Champion, aged 21 years 90 days, when he defeated fellow Dutchman Raymond van BarneveldRaymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
in the final of the 2006 BDO World Championship
2006 BDO World Darts Championship
-Women:-External links:*...
by 7 sets to 5. He also beat Shaun Greatbatch
Shaun Greatbatch
Shaun Greatbatch is an English darts player. He lives in Suffolk and works in the construction industry. His nickname is 9 Dart, having been the first player to hit a perfect nine dart finish on live television, in the final of the 2002 Dutch Open against Steve Coote.-Darts career:Shaun's family...
and world number one Mervyn King on his way to the final. Before the championship, he was said to be a 100-1 outsider to win the title as he did not even have a BDO Tour ranking.
Klaasen returned to the Lakeside
Lakeside Leisure Complex
The Lakeside Leisure Complex is a hotel, entertainment and leisure complex in Frimley Green near Camberley in Surrey. It is most famous as being the venue of the BDO World Darts Championship.-History:...
to defend his World title at the 2007 Championship
2007 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2007 Lakeside World Darts Championship was the 30th Championship and was held between January 6–14, 2007 at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey....
. Klaasen was unseeded for the event after a poor run of form and was facing the seeded Co Stompé
Co Stompé
Jacobus Wilhelm "Co" Stompé , is a Dutch professional darts player who currently plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. Stompé is nicknamed The Matchstick because of his almost bald head and very thin appearance making him look like a matchstick...
, with eventual winner Martin Adams
Martin Adams
Martin Adams is an English international darts player. Nicknamed Wolfie or Mr BDO, he is BDO world ranked number one, three-time and reigning BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion...
waiting in round two should he win.
Klaasen became the sixth defending champion to fall at the first hurdle in his title defence with his first round loss to fellow countryman Stompé by three sets to nil. Although Klaasen was lower in the rankings
Darts world rankings
Darts world rankings are a system which should determine a list of the best dart players in the world based on their performances in tournaments...
at the time, it was considered an upset as Stompé had not won at the Lakeside in the previous four years.
The day after the final it was announced that Klaasen would be defecting to the rival Professional Darts Corporation
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
, alongside two fellow countrymen, Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17...
and Vincent van der Voort
Vincent van der Voort
Vincent van der Voort is a professional darts player.-Playing style:Vincent is well known for his spasmodic style and machine-gun speed of play which has gained him a reputation in both the BDO and the PDC for being one of the more erratic throwers in the darting world...
. The BDO planned to take legal action as Jelle had a year left on his contract.
BDO Grand Slam events
His first attempt at the Winmau World MastersWinmau World Masters
The Winmau World Masters is one of the longest running and most prestigious professional darts tournaments, which began in 1974 - even before the current World Professional Championship...
in 2005 ended with a 2-3 defeat to Irishman Steve McDonald. In 2006 he was seeded 13 but suffered a straight sets defeat in his first match against fellow Dutchman Mario Robbe
Mario Robbe
Mario Robbe is a Dutch darts player currently playing in British Darts Organisation events.Robbe made his BDO World Darts Championship debut in 2007, where he lost in the first round to Ted Hankey. He returned to Lakeside in 2008, but lost again in the first round to fellow Dutchman Remco van...
.
As World Champion, he was invited to the 2006 World Darts Trophy
World Darts Trophy
The World Darts Trophy was a darts tournament held each September at De Vechtsebanen in Utrecht, Netherlands between 2002 and 2007. The tournament has a playing format comparable with the two World Championships, the BDO World Darts Championship and the PDC World Darts Championship...
in his home country, but lost 0-3 to Tony Eccles
Tony Eccles
Tony Eccles is a Winmau sponsored darts player currently residing in Hartlepool. He uses the nickname The Viper.-BDO career:...
in the first round. In 2007 he won in the first round 3-1 against reigning PDC world champion van Barneveld, shortly after that he lost in the second round to Andy Hamilton
Andy Hamilton (darts player)
Andy Hamilton is a full time professional English darts player widely known for his "aggressive" style of play. He is nicknamed The Hammer and is currently ranked 12th on the PDC Order of Merit....
.
He also played in the 2006 International Darts League
International Darts League
The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held...
and beat 13-times World Champion Phil Taylor 7-6 in his last group match, but it was not enough to qualify for the knockout stages. He beat Andy Fordham
Andy Fordham
Andy "The Viking" Fordham is an English darts player. He won the 2004 BDO World Darts Championship, beating Mervyn King in the final...
and Dick van Dijk but lost to Adams, Greatbatch and Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...
in his other group matches.
PDC career
Klaasen did not make an immediate impact on the PDC circuit, having to start virtually from scratch at 262 in the world rankingsDarts world rankings
Darts world rankings are a system which should determine a list of the best dart players in the world based on their performances in tournaments...
. He competed at most of the Pro Tour events (Players Championships and UK Open Regional Finals) to improve his ranking. He reached the quarter-finals of two non-televised Pro Tour events before winning a Players Championship - the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic in November which saw him climb to 49 in the Order of Merit. He only made it into one televised PDC event in the UK during 2007 (the UK Open where he reached the last 32) but his form towards the end of the year ensured automatic qualification for the 2008 World Championship - his debut in the PDC version. He lost in the first round to fellow Dutchman van der Voort in a sudden death leg, having missed ten darts to win the match.
He defeated Lloyd, Jan van der Rassel
Jan van der Rassel
Jan van der Rassel is a Dutch darts player who competes in British Darts Organisation events. He uses the nickname The Project for his matches. His former nickname was Tweety Pie....
and Hamilton to reach the quarter finals of the 2009 PDC World Championship
2009 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2009 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 16th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation....
, only dropping one set in the process. In the Quarter Finals, he was beaten by fellow Dutchman van Barneveld by 5 sets to 1. Klaasen won the first set impressively but the match is memorable for the moment of history as van Barneveld threw a perfect nine-dart finish in the 6th set, the first ever live televised nine-dart finish in the World Championship.
In January 2009, Klaasen was chosen as one of the two wildcards for the 2009 Premier League Darts
2009 Premier League Darts
The 2009 Whyte & Mackay Premier League was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation.The tournament kicked off at the Echo Arena Liverpool which hosted the biggest ever crowd for a PDC event of almost 8,000 in 2008....
tournament, where he will compete against Taylor, James Wade
James Wade
James Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation . He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007...
, van Barneveld, John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
, Terry Jenkins
Terry Jenkins
Terry Jenkins is an English professional darts player who is nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the nickname "Tucker" for his matches...
, King and the other wildcard Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford...
.
Klaasen found life hard in the Premier League, losing 5 and drawing 2 of his opening 7 matches. On 26 March, Klaasen defeated Terry Jenkins 8-6 to finally record his first victory in the competition. Klaasen finished 7th in the Premier League after Wayne Mardle withdrew from the competition. Klaasen qualified for the World Matchplay in Blackpool but lost 10-8 to Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...
in the first round.
Klaasen lost in the first round of the 2010 World Championships losing 3-1 to Welshman Barrie Bates
Barrie Bates
Barrie Bates is a darts player currently residing in Bedlinog, Mid-Glamorgan. He plays in the Professional Darts Corporation and is a regular on the circuit. His nickname is "Batesy"....
. He then reached the quarter finals of the 2010 World Matchplay, beating Mervyn King and Gary Anderson
Gary Anderson (darts player)
Gary Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player from Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation, and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is The Flying Scotsman...
before losing to Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches...
.
Other tournaments
Klaasen has won some Open events in his native country including the Alkmaar Open, but has yet to clinch a major BDO/WDF Open event. In March 2006 he was runner-up in the FinnishFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Open, losing in the final to Martin Atkins
Martin Atkins (darts player)
Martin Atkins is an English darts player. His nickname is "The Assassin". His most notable achievement is beating former BDO World Champion Jelle Klaasen to win the Finnish Open on 11 March 2006...
by 6 sets to 2. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open and Denmark Open during 2006.
He also won the Killarney Darts Festival in 2007, where he beat Vincent van der Voort 3-2.