Matt Campbell flashed his middle finger in a bizarre moment of frustration after missing a routine double against Dirk van Duijvenbode at the Austrian Darts Open. Campbell slipped to a heartbreaking 6-4 defeat, having battled back from 5-0 down in search of a momentous comeback. It never arrived, though, with Van Duijvenbode eventually stumbling over the line.
Campbell did well to fight back from the brink of defeat and was unfortunate to end up on the wrong side of the result. He was visibly frustrated at times, especially after wasting a golden chance to wrap up one particular leg. The man from Canada only needed double 16 but was unable to deliver the goods, leading to a moment of fury.
After watching the crucial dart miss its intended target, Campbell showed his middle finger in the direction of the board before retrieving his arrows. Minutes later, the match was over as Van Duijvenbode nailed a 126 checkout to claim the spoils.
The experienced Dutchman will face Ross Smith in the quarter-finals on Sunday evening. He will be hoping to do his country proud in the absence of Michael van Gerwen, who has elected not to take part alongside several other top players.
Luke Littler, Rob Cross and Luke Humphries have also decided to sit out in favour of taking a break from their busy schedules. Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting were involved in the early stages of the tournament but have already been knocked out.
There was another bizarre moment on Saturday, when Joe Cullen and Thibault Tricole played a gruelling 40-dart leg which would not have been out of place in a local pub. Cullen eventually won it but not before several missed darts at double one.
Tricole had similar issues on the doubles, missing tops before skewing darts at double 10 and double five in the same visit. The pair both ended up on double one, taking it in turns to miss the target to the delight of the Austrian crowd.
Reacting to the farcical leg, Cullen said: “It was one of those. Normally, when you’re stood behind, you get a feeling the other guy will hit it, but I thought he has no chance of hitting it and I knew I had no chance either.
“At one point, I said: ‘Shall we flip a coin?’. I don’t think I would have been as jovial if I was on the losing end of it. Who cares? I won. The first five legs I thought I played quite well.
“At any standard, that just proves whether it be professional, pub darts or youth darts, that leg is still in there for somebody.”
