Madars Razma has revealed he did not even realise Dirk van Duijvenbode had hit a nine-darter during their Players Championship 13 clash in Hildesheim, only discovering what had happened later via social media. Van Duijvenbode produced the perfect leg during their opening round meeting, but while those watching picked up on the moment instantly, Razma remained fully locked into his own game.
“This is something I missed. My priority always will be to focus on my performance, not my opponent,” he wrote on social media. He added that his immediate reaction after the match had simply been to acknowledge his opponent’s level. “I just said to Dirk after our game that he played too good for me, but really, I didn’t see his perfection. Well done.”
Razma’s explanation underlines just how narrow the focus can be on the ProTour, even when something as rare as a nine-darter is happening just a few feet away. Rather than tracking what his opponent was doing, the Latvian kept his attention fixed entirely on his own scoring and finishing throughout the match. “It’s never fun to lose, but if you have seen my games, I always try to applaud my opponent after a great performance,” he added. “It may be funny for someone, but my job is not to count the darts and points of my opponent. I congratulated him after our game.”
Van Duijvenbode went on to win the match 6-3, although his run ended in the following round with a 6-4 defeat to Tyler Thorpe. Thorpe would not go on to feature in the latter stages, as the title was eventually claimed by Kevin Doets, who secured his first PDC ranking win with victory over Luke Woodhouse in the final. The nine-darter itself quickly spread across the darts world, but Razma’s reaction has added a genuinely unusual twist to one of the standout moments from Players Championship 13.
