World Darts Championship star ends seven-year feud after book row | Other | Sport
Vincent van der Voort appears to have put an end to his feud with fellow darts hero Co Stompe. The Dutch pair have not seen eye to eye for years, especially after some discourse surrounding a book about Michael van Gerwen.
The 49-year-old was renowned for his rapid throwing in his heyday, and Van der Voort made the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship on two occasions. He also graced the final of the UK Open in 2007 and confirmed his retirement last week. Van der Voort has never been afraid to speak his mind and back in 2017, he first clashed with an icon of the game, Stompe. The former worlds semi-finalist stated that Van der Voort was using back issues as an excuse for defeats, leading to a breakdown of their relationship. Though it appears they may have now made up.
This 2017 jibe was followed by a sharp reply from Van der Voort. The Dutchman called Stompe a ‘liar’ and clashed with him over his involvement in the book about Van Gerwen, who is a very close friend of his.
Both Van der Voort and Stompe continued their disputes for years, even allegedly avoiding each other when they were colleagues at Dutch outlets Viaplay and RTL. But the butting of heads looks to have ended as Van der Voort himself has revealed they’ll be working together covering the World Darts Championship on Saturday.
“I’m with Jacques Nieuwlaat and Co Stompe for the first time in six or seven years,” revealed Van der Voort, speaking on the Darts Draait Door podcast. Presenter Damian Vlottes replied: “That’s nice. It’s great that things are going well again. It’s great that you’re all getting along again.” Van der Voort added: “It’s fantastic. Really, we can go all out.”
The pair had been clashing as recently as this summer, when Van der Voort took issue with Stompe supposedly breaking the silence surrounding Van Gerwen’s divorce.
“Michael was finally starting to move on from the media storm and then Co gave that interview,” Van der Voort said. “Everyone around him had been contacted by journalists and chose to keep quiet.
“Co felt the need to speak despite being miles away from the situation. That’s what makes it so strange. I don’t want to drag Co through the mud. He was asked a question and he had every right to answer. But the problem is that the interview brought everything back up again and it made things bigger and harder for Michael when he was already trying to put it behind him.”
Nevertheless, the two will feature together on Saturday as action gets back underway from Ally Pally. The afternoon and evening sessions both feature former world champions in Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries, respectively.
