Jelle shows ‘klass’ to beat King

YOUNG star Jelle Klaasen showed he is the real deal last night by knocking out top seed Mervyn King to reach the quarter-finals of the Lakeside World Championship in Frimley Green.

The 21-year-old Dutchman made a impression when fighting back from two sets down to win his opening match and looked even better as he completed a 4-2 win against the world number one.

King, twice runner-up in this event, could not live with Klaasen’s heavy scoring and clinical finishing.

Klaasen took time to settle into the atmosphere and lost the first set, King living up to his ranking with some fine work on the doubles.

However, the tide quickly turned and rapid-throwing Klaasen, who has been playing the game for only five years, began to bully his opponent and reeled off the next three sets.

There was a brief revival from the Englishman as he took four consecutive legs to reduce his arrears to 3-2, but it did not shake Klaasen out of his stride and he maintained his superb form to go through with his second dart at double top.

“I didn’t expect anything from the match. I just wanted to show my best and I did,” said Klaasen.

“Maybe I can go on and win the tournament now. I’m going for it.”

For King it was déjà vu from last year when he also lost in the second round to a little-known Dutchman, on that occasion Andre Brantjes.

“I hit too many singles and not enough trebles,” said King. “I didn’t play as well as I can and a few loose darts cost me. But the lad was brilliant. He was better than me, it’s as simple as that.”