Booed darts shooting star "Pikachu" loses his nerve
Ricardo Pietreczko's furious darts journey at the Grand Slam in Wolverhampton takes a break for the time being. After two matches in the group tournament, he already has no chance of reaching the last 16. He is annoyed by the crowd in his match against women's world champion Beau Greaves.
German shooting star Ricardo Pietreczko has missed out on the round of 16 at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton after his second defeat in his second duel. The 29-year-old, who was the only German to qualify, lost 1:5 without a chance after a weak game against arguably the best darts player in the world at the moment, 19-year-old Beau Greaves from England.
Right from the start, "Pikachu" was annoyed by the home crowd, who sided with Greaves. The German was booed almost continuously. Whenever Pietreczko's darts didn't land where they were supposed to, cheers erupted. When he produced a high-finish in the fourth leg and checked out 118 points, he burst out of his shell. He provoked the crowd with an ear gesture, which did him more harm than good.
Greaves mercilessly exploited her opponent's weakness and secured her chance to progress. It was her first success against a male opponent in a major PDC tournament. At the end of the year at the World Championship in London's Alexandra Palace, there will definitely not be another win. Although Greaves qualified for the event, she canceled her participation because she would rather defend her World Champion title with the rival WDF association. The professional darts organization PDC had previously announced that it would not allow her to take part in both world championships.
Not the first trouble with the audience
This is not bad news for Pietreczko, as it rules out a repeat of the match against Greaves with possible renewed whistles and boos. The fact that the 29-year-old is not at all good at dealing with this is also due to his own sense of justice. At the beginning of the season, he admonished the fans in Leverkusen not to boo their non-German opponents. That didn't help him. At the end of September, he let the spectators upset him once when he first lost his nerve and then the match against a local qualifier at the Hungarian Darts Trophy in Hungary.
At the end of October, on the sidelines of the European Championships in Dortmund, he also let it be known just how annoyed he was by whistles from the crowd, whether against him or his opponents. "I don't want to comment on that anymore," Pietreczko told ntv.de after his first round victory against the booed Englishman Ross Smith.
At the start of the Grand Slam on Saturday, the current world number 44 had narrowly lost 4:5 to the world number 13 Damon Heta from Australia. His final duel against two-time World Championship semi-finalist and World Matchplay winner Nathan Aspinall from England awaits this Monday evening. However, it is no longer possible for Pietreczko to progress from preliminary round group H.
Four Germans are going to the World Championships
A month ago, "Pikachu" triumphed at the German Darts Championship in Hildesheim and became the second German after Max Hopp to win a European Tour event of the Professional Darts Corporation in 2018. This also secured his participation in the Grand Slam. World Championship semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens and Martin, Germany's current number two, failed to qualify.
The Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton is the only PDC ranking tournament that begins with a group stage. Two players from each of the eight groups qualify for the round of 16. The final match for the Eric Bristow Trophy will take place on November 19, with the defending champion being World Champion Michael Smith from England. Pietreczko, who only turned professional with a tour card at the beginning of January 2022, is one of at least four Germans - alongside Clemens, Schindler and Dragutin Horvat - to have already qualified for the World Championships in London from December 15 to January 3.
Despite his victory at the German Darts Championship, Ricardo Pietreczko's performance at the Grand Slam of Darts has been underpar. During his match against Beau Greaves, he was consistently booed by the home crowd, and his reaction to this, making an ear gesture towards the audience, only intensified the negative atmosphere.
In future tournaments, Ricardo Pietreczzo will undoubtedly face challenges in dealing with adversity from crowds. His outburst in Hungary and the boos in Wolverhampton demonstrate his sensitivity to such treatment, which could negatively impact his performance.
Source: www.ntv.de
