Benito van de Pas

Benito van de Pas (born 18 January 1993) is a Dutch darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation.

BDO career

Van de Pas reached the semi-finals of the 2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, losing 1-4 to Michael van Gerwen.^[1]

Van de Pas won the 2011 German Open.^[2] This result helped him to qualify for the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship as the 14th seed. He lost 2-3 in the first round against Alan Norris. He also qualified for the Lakeside in 2013 and 2014, losing in the first round again on both occasions.

PDC career

In January 2014, Van de Pas entered the PDC Q School, earning a tour card on Day 1 with a 5–4 win over fellow BDO player and compatriot Joey ten Berge in the final round.^[3] His first PDC major was the UK Open and he beat Doug Thompson and Davy Dodds both by 5–3 scorelines, before losing 9–3 to Paul Hogan in the third round.^[4] Van de Pas reached the last 16 of a PDC event for the first time in May at the eighth Players Championship, but was defeated 6–1 by Simon Whitlock.^[5] He won through to the semi-finals in the next event by seeing off the likes of Kevin Painter, Michael Smith and Mervyn King, but then let a 5–2 lead over Justin Pipe turn into a 6–5 defeat.^[6] At the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, Van de Pas averaged 104.86 in whitewashing Antonio Alcinas 6–0 in the first round and produced another stunning performance to beat world number one Michael van Gerwen 6–5, opening the game with a 10 darter and finishing it with an average of 106.72.^[7] In the third round he missed three match darts at double top in the deciding leg against James Wade to be beaten 6–5.^[8]

A third quarter-final appearance of the year came at the 14th Players Championship where he lost 6–4 to Michael Smith, but his performances on the Pro Tour throughout the season earned Van de Pas a debut in the European Championship and a first round meeting with Peter Wright.^[9] Van de Pas trailed 3–0 before fighting back to send the match into a deciding leg during which he missed one dart to progress and was beaten 6–5.^[10] Van de Pas was the 29th seed for the Players Championship Finals and he lost to Wright once again in the first round of a PDC major, this time 6–2.^[11]

His successful first year in the PDC earned him £19,500 on the Pro Tour Order of Merit which saw him claim the third of 16 spots on offer to non-qualified players for the 2015 World Championship.^[12] Van de Pas faced Paul Nicholson in the opening round and made a dream start by throwing a 180 in his first visit and went on to take the first set without reply. The match would go into a deciding set in which Van de Pas won all three legs, sealing it with a 109 finish.^[13] He continued his progress by twice coming from behind against world number eight Dave Chisnall to defeat him 4–2.^[14] However, Van de Pas' run came to an end in the third round as Robert Thornton whitewashed him 4–0.^[15] After his first year in the PDC he was ranked world number 42, the second highest of all the new players on tour.^[16] During the fifth Players Championship event, Van de Pas threw his first nine-dart finish on the PDC tour and went on to lose in the last 16.^[17]

Van de Pas ended world number one Michael van Gerwen's 21-game unbeaten start to the year in the European Tour events at the International Darts Open. He took out finishes of 158 and 122 to win 6–4 and then defeated Justin Pipe 6–4 and Kim Huybrechts 6–3 to reach his first PDC final.^[18] However, he was unable to replicate his performances against Michael Smith as he averaged 81.41 in a 6–3 loss.^[19] Van de Pas was also competing on the PDC Development Tour this year and lost in three finals as well as taking the sixth event with a 4–2 win over Bradley Kirk.^[20] He qualified for the World Matchplay for the first time and was beaten 10–4 by Van Gerwen in the opening round.^[21] Van de Pas also made his debut at the World Grand Prix and took the first set against Kim Huybrechts, but then lost six successive legs to be knocked out 2–1 in sets.^[22] Van de Pas reached his second final of the year at the 19th Players Championship, with all 11 legs against Peter Wright going with the throw as he was edged out 6–5, missing the bull for the title in the final leg.^[23] He saw off Stephen Bunting 6–4 at the Players Championship Finals and then averaged 105.39 and took out two thirds of his shots at doubles in a second round 10–3 thrashing of James Wade and afterwards stated his delight that his floor form was translating on to the televised stage.^[24] In Van de Pas' first career PDC major quarter-final he was beaten 10–5 by Daryl Gurney.^[25]

Wins over Max Hopp and Dimitri van den Bergh saw Van de Pas play in the third round of the World Championship for the second successive year and, just like last year, he was unable to pick up a set in a 4–0 defeat this time to Michael Smith.^[26]

World Championship results

BDO

• 2012: First round (lost to Alan Norris 2–3)
• 2013: First round (lost to Darryl Fitton 2–3)
• 2014: First round (lost to Jan Dekker 0–3)

PDC

• 2015: Third round (lost to Robert Thornton 0–4)
• 2016: Third round (lost to Michael Smith 0–4)

References

External links

• Player profile on Benito van de Pas from Dartsdatabase