Jurjen van der Velde may not have been able to overcome Danny Noppert, but he clearly relished the experience of living out his lifelong dream on the World Championship stage.
In the process, Van der Velde also produced a unique moment in PDC World Championship history. Never before had a player checked out a finish in the manner he did, as shown in the footage from the match.
That is one way to do it haha pic.twitter.com/n8tAa2vF2G
— SportsMoments4All (@SportMoments4Al) December 18, 2025
Van der Velde made a memorable entrance, walking onto the stage with a broad smile while holding a can of anti-wasp spray, which he jokingly sprayed around him. Shortly afterwards, he was seen wiping tears from his eyes, prompting commentators in several languages to speculate whether the spray might have caused irritation.
This guy hits most beautiful checkout in Ally Pally but then this happened
That, however, proved not to be the case, as Van der Velde explained after the match. The smile on his face quickly gave way to tears of emotion upon entering the stage. From a very young age, he had dreamed of competing on this very platform.
When he finally stood on the stage and heard the roar of the crowd, the realization dawned that his dream was becoming reality in that very moment. Although emotions briefly took over, he quickly regained his composure and made a strong start to the match.
In doing so, Van der Velde also wrote history by introducing a new checkout route, one that had never before been used at the PDC World Championship. Even towards the closing stages of the match, as Danny Noppert began to take control, Van der Velde could be seen taking a moment to soak it all in before stepping up for what could have been his final darts on the biggest stage of all.
‘The Freeze’ was unable to seal the match on that visit, allowing Van der Velde—still smiling—to return to the oche once more on a stage he had once only dared to dream about. Noppert would eventually close out the contest, producing a composed and professional performance to overcome the debutant.
During his post-match media duties, Van der Velde again became emotional when speaking about the family members he had brought with him, who were able to witness firsthand what he had been working towards for so many years.
Van der Velde said: “The fact that they can be there means so much to me—truly, it’s beautiful. Vincent van der Voort told me not to enjoy it too much and to stay fully focused, but secretly, I couldn’t help myself. I did enjoy it.”