RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD and Michael van Gerwen celebrated a special anniversary for the Netherlands as they warmed up for the Ladbrokes Sydney Darts Masters with a challenge match against Australia's Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson.
Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog became the first European to land in Western Australia in 1616, and the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is celebrating the 400-year anniversary throughout 2016 with a series of special events.
The two nations collided on the oche in a "Dirk Dartog" darts challenge at the 99 On York club in Sydney, with the Dutch pair winning 5-2 in a best of nine leg game.
Van Barneveld and van Gerwen led 4-0 before the Australian pair took the next two legs, including a crowd-pleased 108 finish by Anderson, but a second 180 from the world number one helped to seal the win for the Netherlands' duo.
"We were invited by the Consulate so that's a big honour," said van Barneveld. "We played Australia in Pairs and beat them 5-2, so we played really well and it was an enthusiastic crowd. It was good."
Willem Cosijn, the Consul-General, said: "This is a special year for us and this was a special event.
"We have the King and Queen of the Netherlands here in November, but tonight we had four Kings who made this celebration possible!"
Van Barneveld is now aiming to follow up that win with glory in the fourth staging of the Sydney Darts Masters at The Star from Thursday-Sunday.
"It would mean a lot to me to win one or get in a final, but in the last four of five World Series events I've lost to the eventual winner," said van Barneveld. "That's how things go but hopefully I can match up with them and have a good result this week."
Tickets for the Ladbrokes Sydney Darts Masters are still available from Ticketek via www.ticketek.com.au .
For more information about The Star, visit www.star.com.au . Ticket holders can receive 15% off their total bill on the day of their ticket at the Harvest Buffet at The Star.