Vincent van der Voort

Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch professional darts player on the PDC circuit. As of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, his nickname is the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used to go by "Grease Lightning". He is best known for his quick throwing style, which is how he got his temporary nickname "The Fastest Player in the World". He reached the final of the 2007 UK Open, which helped him become a well known face in the world of darts.

In this Dutch name, the surname is van der Voort.

Vincent van der Voort
Van der Voort in 2017
Personal information
Nickname	"The Dutch Destroyer"
Born	(1975-12-18) 18 December 1975 (age 48) Purmerend, Netherlands
Home town	Purmerend, Netherlands
Darts information
Playing darts since	1985
Darts	23 Gram Winmau Signature
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Give It Up" by K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	2001–2007
PDC	2007– (Tour Card: 2011-)
Current world ranking	63 (13 October 2024)[1]
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Quarter-final: 2005
World Masters	Last 32: 2002, 2003
World Trophy	Last 16: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Int. Darts League	Last 16 Group: 2004
Finder Masters	Last 16 Group: 2001
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Quarter-final: 2011, 2015
World Matchplay	Quarter-final: 2009, 2020
World Grand Prix	Quarter-final: 2015
UK Open	Runner-up: 2007
Grand Slam	Group Stage: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014
European Ch'ship	Quarter-final: 2019
Ch'ship League	Winners Group, 8th: 2008
Desert Classic	Last 32: 2007, 2009
US Open/WSoD	Last 32: 2007
PC Finals	Semi-final: 2014
Masters	Quarter-final: 2016
World Series Finals	Last 16: 2020, 2021
Other tournament wins
Denmark Open 2002, 2006 German Gold Cup 2004 Holland National Championships 2009 Open Lunteren 2009 UK Open Qualifier 2011 WDF Europe Cup Pairs 2004 WDF Europe Youth Cup 1991 WDF World Cup Pairs 2005 European Tour Events Austrian Darts Open 2014 Players Championships Players Championship (AUT) 2011 Players Championship (GER) 2010 Players Championship (NED) 2010
Other achievements
Nine dart finish – Nuland Players Championship 2009
Updated on 17 November 2019.

Playing style

Van der Voort 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. This ties in with his old entrance music, "Fast Fuse" by English band Kasabian. This has resulted in him tending to be either right on or way off his intended target.

BDO career

His best results in British Darts Organisation events were winning the Danish Open in 2002 and 2006 and reaching the quarter-finals of the BDO World Championship at Frimley Green in 2005, defeating 2004 champion Andy Fordham in the process.

He suffered a first round exit in the 2007 World Championship to unranked qualifier Davy Richardson. It was announced days later that Van der Voort, along with fellow Dutchmen Jelle Klaasen and Michael van Gerwen would be switching to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).

PDC career

Van der Voort in 2007

Van der Voort produced a superb run to reach the final of the 2007 UK Open before losing in the final to countryman Raymond van Barneveld. The runner-up prize of £15,000 helped him climb up the world rankings having started placed 211 in the PDC and has now made it into the top 20. He qualified for the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic but lost in the first round to Peter Manley.

2008

Van der Voort reached the second round of the 2008 PDC World Championship. He played his fellow Dutchman Klaasen in the first round, defeating him 3–2 in sets. Adrian Lewis was his opponent in the second round and Van der Voort lost 2–4. The US Open saw a disappointing 2–3 first round defeat at the hands of John Kuczynski of the US.

The UK Open saw a return to form with Van der Voort making it all the way to the semi-final. He started in the fourth round with a fine 9–4 win over Colin Lloyd. This was followed up in the fifth round with another victory over Klaasen. The quarter final matched him with Chris Thompson and a 10–5 win was enough to see Van der Voort through to the semi-final. In the semi-final, Van der Voort eventually succumbed to a 10–4 defeat by James Wade who went on to win the tournament.

His World Matchplay campaign was ended at the first hurdle. Number 13 seed Alan Tabern won the encounter with a narrow 10–8 victory. The World Grand Prix saw Van der Voort playing former World number 1 Lloyd in the first round and Van der Voort eliminated by a score of 0–2.

Van der Voort won group 6 of the inaugural Championship League with a 7–2 thrashing over Mark Walsh to qualify for the Winners group. He would go on to finish bottom of the group, with only one win from his seven matches.

2009

Van der Voort reached the third round of the 2009 PDC World Championship. He defeated Hungary's Nándor Bezzeg 3–0 in sets and then defeated number 14 seed Colin Osborne in the second round 4–1 assisted by some superb finishes. He eventually went out to number 3 seed Wade losing 4–0 in the last 16. His results moved him to the brink of the top sixteen, ranking in 17th and having passed Roland Scholten on the PDC Order of Merit, Van der Voort was the second-highest ranked Dutchman in the rankings, behind Van Barneveld.

At the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts, Van der Voort suffered a defeat to Anastasia Dobromyslova in the group stages, becoming only the second man in history to lose a televised match to a woman. Two days later, however, he sensationally thrashed defending champion Phil Taylor 5–1, becoming only the third man in 2009 to beat Taylor in a televised match (the others being Mervyn King and James Wade).

2010

On 30 December 2010, Van der Voort's biggest win occurred in the round of 16 of the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship where he eliminated the 2010 runner-up and number four seed Simon Whitlock 4–2. However, in the quarter-finals on 1 January 2011, Van der Voort then lost 2–5 against Adrian Lewis.

2011

He reached the final in the first of the 2011 players championships in Germany, where he lost 6–1 to Mervyn King.^[2] He went on to win his first title of 2011, winning a UK Open Qualifier against Raymond Van Barneveld in a high scoring match.

2012

Van der Voort beat Mark Hylton 3–2 in the first round of the 2012 World Championship in a thrilling match.^[3] His second round tie also went to a deciding set against Andy Hamilton, but this time the Dutchman was on the wrong end and exited the tournament by 3 sets to 4.^[4] He then represented the Netherlands in the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts to try to defend the title won by Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompé in 2010. Van der Voort and Van Barneveld enjoyed comfortable victories over Austria and Northern Ireland to set up a semi-final clash with the Australian pair of Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock. Van Barneveld beat Nicholson 4–0 in their singles match, but this was the only point the Dutch won as they relinquished their crown in a 1–5 defeat.^[5] Van der Voort lost 7–9 in the last 32 of the UK Open to Kim Huybrechts,^[6] and at the World Matchplay he was defeated by Ian White 5–10 in the first round.^[7] He later revealed he had passed out before the match and returned home to Holland to undergo tests which revealed him to be lactose intolerant. Doctors advised him to miss the rest of 2012, however Van der Voort defied them to beat William O'Connor in the first round of the World Grand Prix in October.^[8] He then lost to Brendan Dolan 1–3 in sets in the last 16.^[9] After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Van der Voort was 24th on the Order of Merit, inside the top 32 who qualified for the Players Championship Finals.^[10] He was beaten by Kim Huybrechts 3–6 in the first round.^[11]

2013

Van der Voort won his first round match at the World Championship 3–0 over former World Masters runner-up Stuart Kellett and then overcame Dean Winstanley 4–2, despite his opponent hitting a nine-dart finish in the third set.^[12] He then outscored James Wade in the last 16, but missed too many doubles including ones to win the second and third set and was beaten 0–4.^[13] He lost 5–3 in the first round of the UK Open to Kirk Shepherd and finished bottom of Group D at the Grand Slam of Darts having won one of his three games.^[14][15] Van der Voort reached the last 16 stage of four ProTour events during 2013 but lost on each occasion.^[16]

2014

He was involved in a high quality match against Adrian Lewis in the second round of the 2014 World Championship as Van der Voort averaged 99.47, but lost 4–1.^[17] He missed match darts in three successive legs against compatriot Christian Kist in the fourth round of the UK Open to be eliminated 9–8.^[18] In June, Van der Voort won the Austrian Darts Open by beating Jamie Caven 6–5. He was 5–2 down in the final, but took two successive legs and then levelled the match by taking out a 136 finish with Caven waiting on 80. In the deciding leg he was first to a finish, and he took out 83 on double 8 with a pressure last dart with Caven waiting on 56. It was Van der Voort's first title in three years.^[19] He lost in the first round of the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix 10–4 to Raymond van Barneveld and 2–0 (sets) to Michael van Gerwen respectively.^[20][21] Van der Voort recorded a 6–4 win against Simon Whitlock at the European Championship, before Van Barneveld knocked him out 10–7.^[22] He averaged 104.86 in whitewashing Andy Hamilton 6–0 in the opening round of the Players Championship Finals and then eliminated Peter Wright 10–5 and Dean Winstanley 10–8, after recovering from a 3–0 deficit, to reach his first major semi-final since 2008.^[23] He fell 10–3 down to Gary Anderson and, despite a rally to win four successive legs, was beaten 11–7.^[24] In the first round of the World Championship 2015 he beat the Scottish player John Henderson.

2015

Van der Voort took out a crucial 157 finish in the deciding set of his first round match at the 2015 World Championship, with his opponent John Henderson waiting on 80 to eliminate him. Van der Voort then won two 14 dart legs to beat him 3–2, before whitewashing teenager Max Hopp 4–0 and seeing off Dean Winstanley 4–2.^[25] Van der Voort came back from 2–0 down in the quarter-finals against Phil Taylor to lead 3–2. Taylor missed a multitude of set darts in the deciding leg of the next, but Van der Voort was unable to set up a shot at a double with six darts from 156 as Taylor levelled at 3–3. The final two sets both went to Taylor as he won 5–3.^[26] Van der Voort progressed through to the final of the second UK Open Qualifier, where he lost 6–1 to Michael van Gerwen.^[27] Despite averaging 101.03 in the fifth round of the UK Open, it was still over 10 points lower than Taylor's average, as Van der Voort was eliminated 9–3.^[28]

Van der Voort gained some revenge over Taylor in the first round of the World Grand Prix by defeating him 2–0 in sets in the first round and then beat Terry Jenkins 3–0 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.^[29] He led Mensur Suljović 1–0, but missed 11 darts to win the next set which changed the whole match as he then lost nine consecutive legs to be knocked out 3–1.^[30] He lost in the first round of the European Championship 6–1 to Phil Taylor and 10–6 to Michael van Gerwen in the second round of the Players Championship Finals.^[31][32] 2015 did mark the first time that Van der Voort had reached two major quarter-finals in the same year.^[33]

2016

Van der Voort beat Laurence Ryder 3–0 in the first round of the 2016 World Championship and then came back from 2–0 down against Kyle Anderson to win 4–2.^[34] However, he could only win one leg against Gary Anderson in a 4–0 third round defeat.^[35] He had a high quality match with Phil Taylor in the fifth round of the UK Open as both players averaged over 100, but Van der Voort lost 9–7.^[36] He reached the semi-finals of the sixth Players Championship event and was defeated 6–4 by James Wade.^[37] This would prove to be Van der Voort's only last four appearance of 2016. His year tailed off after that as he was eliminated in the first round of the World Matchplay, failed to qualify for the World Grand Prix, European Championship and Grand Slam and lost in the second round of the Players Championship Finals.^[38]

2017

Van der Voort was beaten 3–1 by Max Hopp in the first round of the World Championship, and then suggested he might retire from darts due to a back injury that has been plaguing his performances in recent years.^[39]

2018

Van der Voort was beaten by Raymond van Barneveld in the third Round of the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship 4–1.^[40]

2019

He reached the third round of the World Championship again by beating Lourence Ilagan and Darren Webster before losing to Chris Dobey 3-4. His consistent results on the 2019 tour allowed him a spot at the 2019 World Matchplay, qualifying for Blackpool again after three years.

World Championship results

BDO

• 2002: First round (lost to Mensur Suljović 2–3)
• 2003: Second round (lost to Tony David 1–3)
• 2004: First round (lost to Stephen Bunting 2–3)
• 2005: Quarter-finals (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 0–5)
• 2006: Second round (lost to Tony O'Shea 0–4)
• 2007: First round (lost to Davy Richardson 1–3)

PDC

• 2008: Second round (lost to Adrian Lewis 2–4)
• 2009: Third round (lost to James Wade 0–4)
• 2010: Second round (lost to Kevin Painter 3–4)
• 2011: Quarter-finals (lost to Adrian Lewis 2–5)
• 2012: Second round (lost to Andy Hamilton 3–4)
• 2013: Third round (lost to James Wade 0–4)
• 2014: Second round (lost to Adrian Lewis 1–4)
• 2015: Quarter-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 3–5)
• 2016: Third round (lost to Gary Anderson 0–4)
• 2017: First round (lost to Max Hopp 1–3)
• 2018: Third round (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 1–4)
• 2019: Third round (lost to Chris Dobey 3–4)
• 2020: Second round (lost to Dave Chisnall 1–3)
• 2021: Fourth round (lost to Daryl Gurney 2–4)
• 2022: Third round (withdrew – COVID-19)
• 2023: Third round (lost to Luke Humphries 3–4)

Career finals

PDC major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2007	UK Open	Raymond van Barneveld	8–16 (l)

Performance timeline

BDO

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
BDO World Championship	DNQ	1R	2R	1R	QF	2R	1R
International Darts League	Not held		RR	2R	RR	RR	RR
World Darts Trophy	NH	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R
Winmau World Masters	1R	4R	4R	3R	3R	2R	PDC
Zuiderduin Masters	RR	DNQ	RR	RR	RR	NH	PDC

PDC

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011		2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
PDC Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship	DNP	2R	3R	2R	QF		2R	3R	2R	QF	3R	1R	3R	3R	2R	4R	3R	3R	DNQ
UK Open	F	SF	3R	3R	3R		4R	2R	4R	5R	5R	5R	3R	3R	4R	4R	5R	4R	5R
World Matchplay	DNQ	1R	QF	2R	2R		1R	DNQ	1R	1R	1R	DNQ		1R	QF	1R	DNQ
World Grand Prix	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R		2R	DNQ	1R	QF	DNQ			1R	DNQ	2R	DNQ
European Championship	NH	1R	1R	1R	1R		1R	1R	2R	1R	DNQ	1R	DNQ	QF	DNQ		2R	DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts	RR	RR	RR	RR	RR		DNQ	RR	RR	Did not qualify
Players Championship Finals	Not held		2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	DNQ	SF	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	QF	1R	DNQ
PDC Non-ranked televised events
The Masters	Not held							DNQ			QF	Did not qualify
PDC World Cup of Darts	Not held			DNQ	NH		SF	Did not qualify
World Series of Darts Finals	Not held								Did not qualify						2R	2R	1R	DNQ
PDC Past major events
Las Vegas Desert Classic	1R	DNQ	1R	Not held
Championship League	NH	RR	RR	RR	RR		DNP		Not held
Year-end ranking	25	19	16	18	14		21	29	23	15	25	34	36	33	28	28	30	53

PDC European Tour

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
2012	ADO 2R	GDC 2R	EDO 2R	GDM QF	DDM 2R
2013	UKM 1R	EDT 1R	EDO DNQ	ADO 1R	GDT 1R	GDC 3R	GDM 3R	DDM 1R
2014	GDC DNQ	DDM QF	GDM QF	ADO W	GDT 1R	EDO DNQ	EDG 3R	EDT 3R
2015	GDC QF	GDT 3R	GDM 3R	DDM 2R	IDO 2R	EDO QF	EDT 2R	EDM QF	EDG 2R
2016	DDM DNQ	GDM DNQ	GDT DNQ	EDM 3R	ADO 1R	EDO DNQ	IDO DNQ	EDT 2R	EDG DNQ	GDC 1R
2017	GDC DNQ	GDM DNQ	GDO 2R	EDG DNQ	GDT DNQ	EDM 3R	ADO 2R	EDO 2R	DDM DNQ	GDG QF	IDO 1R	EDT 3R
2018	EDO 1R	GDG DNQ	GDO DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDG 2R	DDM DNQ	GDT 2R	DDO DNQ	EDM 1R	GDC 1R	DDC 1R	IDO 1R	EDT 2R
2019	EDO 2R	GDC DNQ	GDG DNQ	GDO DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDG 2R	DDM QF	DDO 1R	CDO DNQ	ADC SF	EDM DNQ	IDO DNQ	GDT DNQ
2020	BDC DNQ	GDC DNQ	EDG 3R	IDO DNQ
2021	HDT 1R	GDT DNQ
2022	IDO 2R	GDC 2R	GDG 1R	ADO DNQ	EDO DNQ	CDO SF	EDG DNQ	DDC 1R	EDM DNQ	HDT DNQ	GDO DNQ	BDO 1R	GDT 1R
2023	BSD DNQ	EDO DNQ	IDO DNQ	GDG 1R	ADO DNQ	DDC DNQ	BDO DNQ	CDO 2R	EDG DNQ	EDM DNP	GDO DNQ	HDT DNQ	GDC 1R

Performance Table Legend
DNP	Did not play at the event	DNQ	Did not qualify for the event	NYF	Not yet founded	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF	lost in the quarter-finals	SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament

References

1. "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 13 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
2. "Planet Darts | King Crowned in Halle". Pdc.tv. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
3. "World Championship – Day Three". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
4. "World Championship – Day Ten". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
5. "Cash Converters World Cup Semi-finals Round-Up". PDC. 5 February 2012. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
6. "2012 UK Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
7. "Betfair World Matchplay – Night Three". PDC. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
8. "Dutch Ace Reveals Health Scare". PDC. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
9. "PartyPoker.com WGP – Wednesday". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
10. "Minehead Qualifiers Confirmed". PDC. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
11. "Cash Converters PCF Day One". PDC. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
12. "Ladbrokes WDC Day Ten". PDC. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
13. "Ladbrokes WDC Day 11". PDC. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
14. "Speedy Services UK Open – Thursday". PDC. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
15. "2013 Grand Slam of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
16. "Vincent van der Voort 2013". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
17. "Ladbrokes World Championship Day 11". PDC. 16 January 2014.
18. "Coral UK Open – Saturday Afternoon". PDC. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
19. "Gutsy van der Voort's Austrian Joy". PDC. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
20. "2014 World Matchplay Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
21. "2014 World Grand Prix Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
22. "2014 European Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
23. "2014 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
24. "Super Anderson's Minehead Glory". PDC. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
25. "William Hill World Championship Day Six". PDC. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
26. "William Hill World Championship Day 12". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
27. "Mighty Mike Claims Wigan Win". PDC. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
28. "Coral UK Open Fifth round". PDC. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
29. "partypoker.com World Grand Prix – Monday". PDC. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
30. "partypoker.com World Grand Prix QF". PDC. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
31. "2015 European Championship Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
32. "2015 Players Championship Finals Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
33. "Vincent van der Voort Major Results". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
34. "William Hill World Championship Day Nine". PDC. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
35. "William Hill World Championship Day 11". PDC. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
36. "2016 Coral UK Open Fifth round". PDC. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
37. "Payne Edges Out Wade For Maiden Title". PDC. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
38. "Vincent van der Voort 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
39. "Van der Voort Considering Retirement". PDC. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
40. "Raymond van Barneveld breezes through to Quarter-finals against Vincent van der Voort". 27 December 2017.

External links

• Official website
• Vincent van der Voort player profile at Darts Orakel
• Management website