Dutch darts player goes viral for hardstyle walk-on at Ally Pally
The "Aubergenius" Dirk van Duijvenbode sent spectators at the PDC World Darts Championships into a rave frenzy ahead of his victory against Andy Baetens
Dirk van Duijvenbode is going viral on TikTok for his hardstyle walk-on at this year's PDC World Darts Championships.
Nicknamed the "Aubergenius", the Dutch darts player sent spectators at Alexandra Palace into a rave frenzy ahead of his match against Andy Baetens on Monday (December 15).
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Reeling from the momentum, van Duijvenbode achieved his fourth big fish checkout in the tie, which saw him come up from 2-1 down to win a last-set decider over the Belgian former WDF World Champion.
Social media users took notice of van Duijvenbode's unique walk-on, after clips of him whipping crowds up to 'Just Like You' from Dutch hardstyle producer Radical Redemption were posted on TikTok.
While the World Number 29 player has been walking out to the track since 2015, social media users flooded the comments section of a clip posted by Sky Sports in an attempt to identify the track on TikTok, with one user writing: “Dirk van Duijvenbode clearly won this psychological game.”
In the same clip posted on Instagram, user Elliot.tb referenced the hardstyle dance van Duijvenbode broke into, writing: "Love he broke out the mower at the end," while another commenter, wallie1991nl, simply wrote: "Dutch culture."
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Dirk van Duijvenbode isn't the only darts player to break out dance bangers for this year's PDC World Darts Championships, with German player Arno Merk having opened the championships with his walk-on to Stereoact & Redblack's 'Sarà Perché Ti Amo'.
Lithuanian player Darius Labanauskas broke out 'Infinity' by Guru Josh Project ahead of his defeat by World Number One Luke "The Nuke" Littler, while Dutch player Niels Zonneveld used Avicci's 'The Nights', Scottish player Alan Soutar used Gala's classic 'Freed From Desire', and World Number Three Stephen Bunting farmed serious aura with his now-iconic walk-on to Sia ft. David Guetta's 'Titanium'.
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter