Wasps are causing mayhem on the stage at the World Darts Championship, so one player came prepared to deal with them.
After walking onto the stage ahead of his first-round match on Tuesday, Jurjen van der Velde created a bit of a buzz by pulling out insect repellent from his pocket and started spraying the air around him and then himself — much to the amusement of the crowd at Alexandra Palace in north London.
Van der Velde was seen wiping his face with a cloth ahead of the game, with tournament organizer the Professional Darts Corp questioning on X whether the Dutchman was “emotional or has sprayed bug spray in his eyes.”
Photo: AP
In all-Dutch match, Van der Velde went on to lose 3-1 to Danny Noppert.
Wasps have been interfering with players during the opening days of the worlds, affecting their throws and post-match interviews. One player, Nitin Kumar, even struck a wasp with his dart mid-flight on Sunday.
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By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
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