DUTCH trio Jelle Klaasen, Vincent van der Voort and Co Stompe were amongst the first six qualifiers for the PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic on Sunday.

 

Almost 200 players travelled to the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas in a bid to win the 12 qualifying places in the main Desert Classic event, which begins on Wednesday.

 

Three of the first six players will join Raymond van Barneveld as Dutch representatives in the Desert Classic, with Klaasen, van der Voort and Stompe all winning through a tough field on Sunday.

 

Klaasen had to take on former World Champion Mark Webster in the first round, winning 5-2, and later edged out James Barton 5-4 before seeing off Smith in his deciding game, taking out 146 and 149 in the final two legs to seal the narrowest of victories.

 

Van der Voort was a 5-3 winner against Tony Eccles in his final match, having previously overcome Louis Blundell, Ian Jopling and Ken MacNeil.

 

Stompe qualified for a second successive year with a whitewash of Nick Fullwell in his decider.

 

He was a narrow 5-4 winner against Michael van Gerwen in his semi-final, and also produced two earlier 5-0 wins in a strong performance on the day.

 

Lowestoft’s Peter Wright, who has climbed into the world’s top 100 this year, defeated Andy Smith 5-3 to earn his Desert Classic debut.

 

Simon Whitlock celebrated his return to the PDC circuit by qualifying for the Desert Classic, winning his first three games without dropping a leg before defeating Mark Dudbridge and Barrie Bates to earn his spot.

 

The Queenslander is undefeated on the DartPlayers Australia circuit this season and maintained that form to earn a place in the main Desert Classic.

 

Jamie Caven’s recent run of form continued as he defeated Ireland’s Shane O’Connor 5-4 in his final match, hitting winning legs of 14, 11 and 13 darts to come from 4-2 down and sneak victory.

 

Sunday’s losing players will return on Monday for the second qualifier, which will produce the final six players for the main event.

 

The PDC’s top 16 and four North Americans have pre-qualified for the Desert Classic, with the televised stages beginning on Wednesday and screened live on Sky Sports in the UK.

 

PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic

Sunday Qualifier

First Round

Board One

Peter Manley (1) Bye

Mark Venable 5-1 Martin S Rodda

Jim Newman 5-1 Jeff Angione

Kevin Hill 5-2 Stephen MacAulay

 

Board Two

Mick McGowan (24) 5-4 David Fatum

Nikash Patel 5-1 Scott Clifford

Anthony Thompson 5-1 Michael Putz

Shane O’Connor 5-1 Joe DaVanti

 

Board Three

Kirk Shepherd (7) Bye

John Latchic 5-4 Pete Galloway

Jim McKevitt 5-1 Dave Fearn

Mark Lawrence 5-1 Robert Tafuri

 

Board Four

Jamie Caven (18) 5-0 Ghislain Tremblay

Matt Jackson 5-2 Davey Mansell

Paul Knighton 5-4 Pete Riehl

Rocco Maes 5-0 Mark Davis

 

Board Five

Robert Thornton (2) Bye

Davis Snider 5-0 Adam Young

Scott Henning 5-2 Paul Hawkett

Marc Garcia 5-1 Preston Fox

 

Board Six

Dennis Smith (23) 5-4 Mark Carter

Kevin Dowling 5-0 Joe Formica

Chris Cooper 5-4 Gordon Morrison

Mark Tiller 5-3 Joe Cullen

 

Board Seven

Jelle Klaasen (8) 5-2 Mark Webster

Dan Butler 5-0 Kevin Fletcher

James Barton 5-4 Lee Williams

Colin Monk 5-4 Bryan de Hoog

 

Board Eight

Wes Newton (17) 5-2 Darren Starr

Tony Ayres 5-0 Steve Carey

Kevin Harris 5-4 Steve Brown

Stephen Panuncialman 5-1 Darren Johnson

 

Board Nine

Denis Ovens (3) Bye

John Quantock 5-0 Robert Race

Allan Snabel 5-3 Daz Horler

Mark Nielsen 5-2 Jules Budd

 

Board Ten

Jan van der Rassel (22) 5-1 Gregory Coburn

Robbie Newland 5-4 Sara Rose

Peter Wright 5-0 Morihiro Hashimoto

James Stephenson 5-1 Andy Bradbury

 

Board 11

Andy Smith (9) 5-2 Brian Griffiths

Darren Latham 5-1 Brian Jones

Andy Mason 5-3 Stephen Grant

Gary Anderson 5-0 Paul DiCecca

 

Board 12

Steve Beaton (16) 5-2 Steve Grubb

John Dawes 5-0 Piki Morrison

Mark Stephenson 5-0 Bill Grubb

Larry Butler 5-3 Tyler Hayne

 

Board 13

Mark Dudbridge (4) Bye

Simon Craven 5-3 Dan Zimmerman

Alan Taylor 5-1 Paul Walker

Timmy Nicoll 5-2 Sam Rooney

 

Board 14

Gary Mawson (21) 5-0 Patrick Thernstrom

John Murray 5-4 Gary Storey

Simon Whitlock 5-0Chris Edwards

Bernard Prenter 5-4 Mark K Robinson

 

Board 15

Barrie Bates (10) 5-2 Joachim Koessler

Gerry Convery 5-1 Ben Burton

Ron Peppers 5-3 Chris Duff

Bertrand Lajoie 5-4 David Flowers

 

Board 16

Kevin McDine (15) 5-1 Stephen Osborne

Chuck Pankow 5-2 Alan Green

Paul Lim 5-4 Dan Lauby

Andy Fordham 5-3 Jon Archer

 

Board 17

Vincent van der Voort (5) Bye

Louis Blundell 5-1 Eddie Lawrence

Stuart Holden 5-4 Phillip Hazell

Ian Jopling 5-1 Sean Palfrey

 

Board 18

Steve Maish (20) 5-2 Andreas Waldenmaier

Aaron Turner 5-0 Neil Dickson

Jeff Hubbard 5-3 David Ansell

Ken MacNeil 5-0 Sato Fumihiro

 

Board 19

Tony Eccles (11) 5-1 Ray Carver

Karl Loiseau 5-2 Graham Warburton

Par Riihonen 5-2 John Worthington

Gary Barnett 5-4 John Denich

 

Board 20

Andy Jenkins (14) 5-1 Drazen Severin

John Jenkinson 5-2 Chris White

Brian Rowe 5-1 Adrian W Lewis

Robert Heckman 5-0 Andy Askey

 

Board 21

Roland Scholten (6) Bye

Mark W Robinson 5-1 Andrew Bent

Brad Hann 5-1 Geoff Daniels

Tom Wilson 5-1 Cory Donham

 

Board 22

Matt Clark (19) 5-3 Scott Robertson

Pete Allsopp 5-2 Steve Gooch

Nick Fullwell 5-0 John Loew

Neil McKnight 5-3 Dale A Slamon

 

Board 23

Michael van Gerwen (12) 5-3 Dave Ladley

Jason Clark 5-1 David Goodchild

Martyn Turner 5-0 Martin Hulme

Steve Hine 5-2 Dieter Schutsch

 

 

Board 24

Co Stompe (13) 5-0 Chris Goodband

John Kuczynski 5-0 Cyril Pearce

Jacko Barry 5-3 Ryan Vander Weit

Anne Gustafsson 5-1 Roger England

 

 

Second Round

Peter Manley 5-1 Mark Venable

Jim Newman 5-2 Kevin Hill

Nikash Patel 5-4 Mick McGowan

Shane O’Connor 5-0 Anthony Thompson

Kirk Shepherd 5-0 John Latchic

Mark Lawrence 5-0 Jim McKevitt

Jamie Caven 5-0 Matt Jackson

Rocco Maes 5-3 Paul Knighton

Davis Snider 5-3 Robert Thornton

Scott Henning 5-4 Marc Garcia

Dennis Smith 5-2 Kevin Dowling

Chris Cooper 5-2 Mark Tiller

Jelle Klaasen 5-1 Dan Butler

James Barton 5-2 Colin Monk

Wes Newton 5-4 Tony Ayres

Kevin Harris 5-4 Stephen Panuncialman

John Quantock 5-4 Denis Ovens

Mark Nielsen 5-2 Allan Snabel

Jan van der Rassel 5-1 Robbie Newland

Peter Wright 5-2 James Stephenson

Andy Smith 5-0 Darren Latham

Gary Anderson 5-0 Andy Mason

Steve Beaton 5-0 John Dawes

Larry Butler 5-1 Mark Stephenson

Mark Dudbridge 5-2 Simon Craven

Timmy Nicoll 5-2 Alan Taylor

Gary Mawson 5-4 John Murray

Simon Whitlock 5-0 Bernard Prenter

Barrie Bates 5-3 Gerry Convery

Bertrand Lajoie 5-4 Ron Peppers

Kevin McDine 5-2 Chuck Pankow

Paul Lim 5-3 Andy Fordham

Vincent van der Voort 5-1 Louis Blundell

Ian Jopling 5-1 Stuart Holden

Aaron Turner 5-4 Steve Maish

Ken MacNeil 5-1 Jeff Hubbard

Tony Eccles 5-0 Karl Loiseau

Par Riihonen 5-2 Gary Barnett

Andy Jenkins 5-1 John Jenkinson

Robert Heckman 5-0 Brian Rowe

Mark W Robinson 5-3 Roland Scholten

Tom Wilson 5-0 Brad Hann

Matt Clark 5-1 Pete Allsopp

Nick Fullwell 5-2 Neil McKnight

Michael van Gerwen 5-2 Jason Clark

Martyn Turner 5-3 Steve Hine

Co Stompe 5-0 John Kuczynski

Jacko Barry 5-0 Anne Gustafsson

 

 

Third Round

Peter Manley 5-4 Jim Newman

Shane O’Connor 5-4 Nikash Patel

Kirk Shepherd 5-4 Mark Lawrence

Jamie Caven 5-1 Rocco Maes

Davis Snider 5-1 Scott Henning

Dennis Smith 5-2 Chris Cooper

Jelle Klaasen 5-4 James Barton

Kevin Harris 5-4 Wes Newton

John Quantock 5-2 Mark Nielsen

Peter Wright 5-0 Jan van der Rassel

Andy Smith 5-3 Gary Anderson

Larry Butler 5-4 Steve Beaton

Mark Dudbridge 5-2 Timmy Nicoll

Simon Whitlock 5-0 Gary Mawson

Barrie Bates 5-0 Bertrand Lajoie

Kevin McDine 5-2 Paul Lim

Vincent van der Voort 5-4 Ian Jopling

Ken MacNeil 5-1 Aaron Turner

Tony Eccles 5-2 Par Riihonen

Andy Jenkins 5-1 Robert Heckman

Mark Robinson 5-2 Tom Wilson

Nick Fullwell 5-2 Matt Clark

Michael van Gerwen 5-4 Martyn Turner

Co Stompe 5-2 Jacko Barry

 

 

Fourth Round

Shane O’Connor 5-3 Peter Manley

Jamie Caven 5-1 Kirk Shepherd

Dennis Smith 5-2 Davis Snider

Jelle Klaasen 5-2 Kevin Harris

Peter Wright 5-1 John Quantock

Andy Smith 5-4 Larry Butler

Simon Whitlock 5-3 Mark Dudbridge

Barrie Bates 5-3 Kevin McDine

Vincent van der Voort 5-2 Ken MacNeil

Tony Eccles 5-1 Andy Jenkins

Nick Fullwell 5-2 Mark Robinson

Co Stompe 5-4 Michael van Gerwen

Losers £250

 

 

Fifth Round

Jamie Caven 5-4 Shane O’Connor

Jelle Klaasen 5-4 Dennis Smith

Peter Wright 5-3 Andy Smith

Simon Whitlock 5-2 Barrie Bates

Vincent van der Voort 5-3 Tony Eccles

Co Stompe 5-0 Nick Fullwell

Winners – Place in PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic

Losers £1,000

 

 

Qualifiers

Jamie Caven

Jelle Klaasen

Peter Wright

Simon Whitlock

Vincent van der Voort

Co Stompe

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