Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

player who plays in the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

(PDC) and

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the nati ...

(WDF) events. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, he became the youngest darts player to win the

World Darts Championship The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split ...

, aged 21 at the time. He also is a Dutch Open champion. Since November 2022, he has been the leader of the

men's ranking.

Beginnings of his career

His first attempt at the international stage was a 2005 Winmau World Masters ended with a 2–3 defeat to Irishman Steve McDonald. On 15 January 2006, Klaasen became the youngest World Darts Champion, aged 21 years 90 days, when he defeated fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld in the final of the 2006 BDO World Championship by 7 sets to 5. He also beat

Shaun Greatbatch Shaun Greatbatch (13 July 1969 – 5 June 2022) was an English professional darts player. He lived in Suffolk and worked in the construction industry. His nickname was Nine Dart Man, having been the first player to hit a perfect nine dart fin ...

and world number one Mervyn King on his way to the final. Before the championship, he was said to be a 100–1 outsider to win the title as he did not even have a BDO Ranking. As World Champion, he was invited to the 2006 World Darts Trophy in his home country, but lost 0–3 to

Tony Eccles Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached the quarter-finals of the BD ...

in the first round. In 2007, he won in the first round 3–1 against reigning PDC World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, shortly after that he lost in the second round to

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

. He also played in the 2006

International Darts League The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held. Gary Anders ...

and beat 13-times World Champion Phil Taylor 7–6 in his last group match, but it was not enough to qualify for the knockout stages. He beat

Andy Fordham Andrew Fordham (2 February 1962 – 15 July 2021) was an English professional darts player, commonly known as The Viking. He won the 2004 BDO World Darts Championship and the 1999 Winmau World Masters. Darts career Fordham made his first ap ...

and Dick van Dijk but lost to

Martin Adams Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridges ...

and Colin Lloyd in his other group matches. Klaasen has won some Open events in his native country including the Alkmaar Open. In March 2006 he was runner-up in the Finnish Open, losing in the final to Martin Atkins by 2–6. He also reached the quarter-finals of the

Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...

and

Denmark Open The Denmark Open, or formerly known as Danish Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in Denmark and organized by Badminton Denmark. The Denmark Open was part of the BWF Super Series Premier from 2011 to 2017. BWF categorised it as one o ...

during 2006. In

2006 Winmau World Masters The 2006 Winmau World Masters was a darts tournament held at Leisure World in Bridlington between October 13-15, 2006. It also featured a qualifying event for the 2007 Lakeside World Professional Championship. Seventeen-year-old Michael van G ...

, he was seeded 13 but suffered a straight sets defeat in his first match against fellow Dutchman

Mario Robbe Mario Robbe (born 23 August 1973 in Tilburg) is a Dutch professional darts player. Career Robbe made his BDO World Darts Championship The WDF World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the World Dart ...

. Klaasen returned to the Lakeside to defend his World title at the 2007 Championship. Klaasen was unseeded for the event after a poor run of form and was facing the seeded

Co Stompé Jacobus Wilhelmus "Co" Stompé (born 10 September 1962) is a Dutch former professional darts player. He was nicknamed The Matchstick because of his almost bald head and very thin appearance, making him look like a matchstick. He was also one of ...

, with eventual winner

waiting in round two should he win. Klaasen became the sixth defending champion to fall at the first hurdle in his title defence with his first round loss to fellow countryman Stompé by three sets to nil. Although Klaasen was lower in the

rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

at the time, it was considered an upset as Stompé had not won at the Lakeside in the previous four years. The day after the final it was announced that Klaasen would be defecting to the rival

, alongside two fellow countrymen,

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

and

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch professional darts player on the PDC circuit. As of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, his nickname is the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used to go by "Grease Lightning". He is bes ...

. The BDO planned to take legal action as Jelle had a year left on his contract.

PDC Career

upleft, Klaasen in 2007 Klaasen did not make an immediate impact on the PDC circuit, having to start virtually from scratch at 262 in the world rankings. He competed at most of the Pro Tour events (Players Championships and UK Open Regional Finals) to improve his ranking. He reached the quarter-finals of two non-televised Pro Tour events before winning a Players Championship – the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic in November which saw him climb to 49 in the

PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded f ...

. He only made it into one televised PDC event in the UK during 2007 (the UK Open where he reached the last 32) but his form towards the end of the year ensured automatic qualification for the 2008 World Championship – his debut in the PDC version. He lost in the first round to fellow Dutchman

in a sudden death leg, having missed ten darts to win the match. He defeated Colin Lloyd,

Jan van der Rassel Jan van der Rassel (born 5 January 1964) is a former Dutch professional darts player. He used the nicknames The Project and Rassel Dazzle for his matches. Career He began his darts career competing on the BDO circuit in 2002, and reached the ...

and

to reach the quarter finals of the 2009 PDC World Championship, only dropping one set in the process. In the quarter finals, he was beaten by Van Barneveld 5–1. The match is best remembered for Barneveld hitting the first 9-dart leg in the history of the PDC World Championship. In January 2009, Klaasen was chosen as one of the two wildcards for the 2009 Premier League Darts tournament, where he competed against Taylor,

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

, Van Barneveld,

John Part John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

, King and the other wildcard

Wayne Mardle Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...

. Klaasen found life hard in the Premier League, losing 5 and drawing 2 of his opening 7 matches. On 26 March, Klaasen defeated Terry Jenkins 8–6 to finally record his first victory in the competition. Klaasen finished 7th in the Premier League after Wayne Mardle withdrew from the competition. Klaasen qualified for the World Matchplay in Blackpool but lost 10–8 to

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

in the first round. Klaasen lost in the first round of the 2010 World Championship losing 3–1 to Welshman

Barrie Bates Barrie Bates (born 17 October 1969) is a former Welsh darts player who played on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit. His original nickname was Batesy, but since 2007, he was known as Champagne. Career Bates made his PDC televised ...

. He then reached the quarter finals of the 2010 World Matchplay, beating Mervyn King and Gary Anderson before losing to

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname ...

. Klaasen reached the second round of the 2012 World Championship with a 3–1 win over Peter Wright, but was beaten 0–4 by

in the second round. His best result of 2012 was in reaching the quarter-finals of the third UK Open Qualifier in March where he lost 4–6 to Mark Jones. At the

UK Open The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...

itself he was defeated in the last 64 by Raymond van Barneveld 3–9. After revelations emerged with regard to Klaasen's personal life detailed below he did not play again in the rest of 2012, which included missing the 2013 World Championship.

2013

Klaasen returned to darts in January 2013 by qualifying for the first European Tour event of the year, the UK Darts Masters, with a 6–2 win over Carlos Rodríguez. He lost to

5–6 in the first round. In May, Klaasen reached his first PDC final since November 2007 at the fourth Players Championship by beating the likes of Mervyn King and Gary Anderson. He averaged 103 in the final against

Jamie Caven Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976) is an English former professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He has won seven events on the PDC Pro Tour, including two in the same weekend in May 2013. Caven was ...

but lost 4–6 with his opponent averaging almost 111. At the

he beat Gareth Pass, Ross Smith and

Stuart Kellett Stuart Kellett (born 12 August 1981) is a former English darts player. BDO career Kellett reached the last 16 of the 2007 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Andy Fordham among others on the way to the televised stages. He lost 1-3 in sets ...

to reach the last 16 for the first time since 2008. Klaasen played

and lost 7–9. He beat

Wes Newton Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player. Darts career Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Ope ...

6–4 and

Justin Pipe Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was a former top 10 player. Playing career Pipe was a boxer in his youth, and, as a staunc ...

10–6 to advance to the quarter-finals of the European Championship, where he was defeated 7–10 by

. In the first round of the World Matchplay he came back from 3–8 down against

to trail only 7–9, but lost the next leg to fall short of a successful fightback. Klaasen was outplayed by Gary Anderson in the first round of the World Grand Prix as the Scotsman did not give Klaasen one dart at a leg winning double in a 2–0 in sets ten minute match. In the double-start event Anderson averaged 104.86, almost 40 points ahead of Klaasen's 67.22. Klaasen knocked out number two seed

Dave Chisnall Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Champion ...

6–4 in the

Players Championship Finals The Players Championship Finals is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament originally featured the top 32 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit, a separate ranking system that only takes int ...

, before losing 9–5 to Anderson in the second round.

2014

Klaasen played

in the first round of the 2014 World Championship and lost 3–1 as he hit just 17% of his darts at doubles. At the

German Darts Championship The German Darts Championship is a Professional Darts Corporation event that takes place in Germany as part of the PDC European Tour. Since 2013, it has been held at Halle 39 in Hildesheim, after previously being held in Berlin Berlin ( , ) ...

he reached the semi-finals of a European Tour event for the first time by defeating

6–5 in the quarters. He played

and was denied a place in the final as Pipe took out a 134 finish in the deciding leg. Klaasen was narrowly beaten 9–8 by

in the third round of the

. At the European Championship, Klaasen knocked out reigning champion

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

6–4 in the first round and Caven 10–7 to reach the quarter-finals for the second year in a row, where he lost 10–5 to Mervyn King. Klaasen averaged 108.74 in beating

6–4 in the first round of the

, but then averaged nearly 20 points lower as he missed 22 doubles in the next round against

Dean Winstanley Dean Winstanley (born 10 February 1981) is an English professional darts player. He first took up darts as a two-year-old, stopped playing at the age of 12, and then started playing again when he was 22. He turned professional in 2008 and won ...

to be beaten 10–5.

2015

Klaasen met Gary Anderson in the second round of the 2015 World Championship after seeing off compatriot

Christian Kist Christian Kist (born 21 April 1986) is a Dutch professional darts player. In 2012, he won the BDO World Darts Championship, defeating Tony O'Shea in the final. Since 2014, he has competed in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career BDO K ...

3–1. Klaasen went 3–1 up and was two legs to one ahead in the next set, before Anderson took out 84 on the bull with Klaasen waiting on 89 for the match. Anderson sealed the set in the next leg and won the final two sets by three legs to one scorelines to win 4–3. Both players averaged over 100 with 20 180s thrown during the match. Klaasen defeated Phil Taylor 6–2 at the fourth UK Open Qualifier to play in his first final in almost two years. However, he missed 10 match darts to slip from 5–2 ahead of

to lose 6–5. At the

, Klaasen beat

Brendan Dolan Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...

9–4, before losing 9–5 to

Andrew Gilding Andrew Gilding (born 7 December 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He made his television debut in 2011. Gilding's best result at a PDC major event was reaching the sem ...

in the fourth round. Klaasen recorded successive wins over

, Mervyn King and

to reach the final of the 12th Players Championship where, after taking the opening leg, he was beaten 6–1 by Peter Wright. Klaasen reached his third final of the year at the 14th Players Championship and won his first title in nearly eight years by beating Ian White 6–2. He was knocked out 10–4 by Whitlock in the first round of the World Matchplay. In September, Klaasen's second title of the year came at the 16th Players Championship with a 6–4 victory over Raymond van Barneveld. Klaasen reached his first quarter-final at the World Grand Prix by eliminating

2–1 and

3–2 and faced Mark Webster. The match went all the way to a deciding leg in the fifth set in which Klaasen crucially missed five opening doubles and could never catch up to lose 3–2. Wins over Raymond van Barneveld and

saw Klaasen reach another major quarter-final at the European Championship, but he was defeated 10–6 by Gary Anderson.

2016

Klaasen overcame Joe Cullen and Mervyn King to advance to the third round of the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for the first time since 2009. He missed one dart at double 18 to complete a 147 finish and defeat Phil Taylor 4–2, before going 2–0 down in legs in the final set. Taylor missed one dart to win the match and Klaasen took full advantage by winning four legs on the trot, wrapping it up with an 11 darter. In the quarter-finals, Klaasen was 3–1 and 4–3 behind Alan Norris in a race to five. He was two legs to one down in the next set but produced back-to-back 11 dart legs to win it and then clinched the final set without conceding a leg to advance to the semi-finals of a PDC World Championship for the first time, where he faced reigning champion Gary Anderson. Klaasen's victory also marked the first time that a player has won their next game after knocking Taylor out of a PDC World Championship. In the semis he was thrashed 6–0 by Anderson, who averaged 107. Klaasen also reached the semi-finals of the next major event as he whitewashed Kyle Anderson 10–0 at the

, but he lost 10–5 to Peter Wright. He was defeated 10–6 by

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1. Background Beaton was born in Co ...

in the opening round of the World Matchplay and at the same stage of the World Grand Prix, 2–1 in sets by

. Klaasen knocked out

6–4 to reach the final of the

, but lost 6–5 to Norris after leading 4–2. 6–3 and 10–4 wins over Steve West and

Stephen Bunting Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed The Bullet, Bunting won the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship and is a twice former Wor ...

saw Klaasen face

in the quarter-finals of the European Championship and he was comfortably beaten 10–3. He missed three match darts in the third round of the

as Chisnall edged through 10–9.

2017

He got to the third round of the

for the second year in a row with comfortable victories over

Jeffrey de Graaf Jeffrey de Graaf (born 21 November 1990) is a Dutch darts player. He has played in six World Championships (four BDO and two PDC) but has lost in the first round each time. He moved from the BDO to the PDC in 2016. Career BDO In 2012, De Graaf ...

and

, but found himself 3–1 down to

. Klaasen took the next set and led by two legs to none in the sixth, before Chisnall won three legs on the spin to triumph 4–2. His return to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

was blighted by tendinitis in his wrist for which Klaasen received anti-inflammatory injections before matches. Klaasen explained how he could play for five or six legs before experiencing pain in his throwing hand. His only win out of his nine league games came against Chisnall and Klaasen finished ninth in the table to be eliminated. He lost 6–2 in the final of the German Darts Masters to Van Gerwen.

2018

At the

2018 PDC World Darts Championship The 2018 William Hill World Darts Championship was a darts event, held between 14 December 2017 and 1 January 2018 at the Alexandra Palace in London, United Kingdom. It was the 25th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporat ...

, Klaasen was defeated by

Jan Dekker Jan Dekker (born 25 June 1990) is a former Dutch professional darts player. He twice reached the semi-finals of the BDO World Darts Championship, in 2011 and 2014. Career Dekker qualified for the televised stages of the 2010 Winmau World Ma ...

3–1 in the first round. He was defeated 10–5 by Peter Wright in the opening round of the World Matchplay.

2019

upright=1.2, Klaasen during the 2019 German Darts Grand Prix At the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship, Jelle was defeated by

Keegan Brown Keegan Brown (born 5 November 1992) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2014 PDC World Youth Championship. Career Early career Brown began playing darts at the age of ni ...

3–1 in the second round. He lost in the fourth round of the

Madars Razma Madars Razma (born 26 September 1988) is a Latvian professional darts player nicknamed Latvian Razmatazz who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the Latvia National Championships in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Car ...

10–4. He then qualified for his first euro tour of the year 2019 International Darts Open, losing in the first round to

Joe Murnan Joe Murnan (born 28 September 1983) is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. Career Murnan reached the last 40 of the 2010 Winmau World Masters, losing 3–0 to Filipino Ronald L. Briones. Murnan quali ...

6–5. He then lost in the

Max Hopp Max Hopp (born 20 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Hopp reached the final of the 2011 WDF World Cup boys' singles, and won the boys' singles event at the 2012 ...

6–3.

2020

Klaasen beat Kevin Burness 3–1 in the first round of the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship, before losing to

by the same scoreline. At the 2020 UK Open, he started his campaign by defeating Riley's qualifier Jason Askew 6–4. Klaasen then beat William Borland 10–5 before thrashing Steve West 10–1 to set up a sixth-round clash with Gary Anderson. He overcame Anderson 10–9 before losing in the quarter-finals to

Daryl Gurney Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the P ...

WDF Career

From the beginning of 2022, Klaasen took part in tournaments organized by the

. In June 2022, he took part in the Dutch Open, where he was seeded in 26th. On his way to the final of this tournament, he defeated leading WDF players including

Richard Veenstra Richard Veenstra (born 10 July 1981) is a Dutch professional darts player who currently plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. He is a Dutch Open champion, BDO World Trophy and Finder Darts Masters finalist. Multiple medalist of WDF World ...

and

Thibault Tricole Thibault Tricole (born 11 October 1989) is a French professional darts player who currently plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a first French player to advance to final of the World Darts ...

, before defeating

Mark Barilli Mark Barilli (born 14 November 1973) is a Scottish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is well known for his throwing style where he changes the speed of his throw from fast to slow alternatively, and also ...

in the final. This qualified him for the 2023 WDF World Darts Championship and 2022 Winmau World Masters. In November, he won the Irish Open. On his way to the final, he defeated

Michael Warburton Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

Kai Fan Leung Kai Fan Leung (born 11 September 1983) is a Hong Kong professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Career In 2017, he qualified for the UK Open, losing in the first round ...

and

Ryan Hogarth Ryan Hogarth (born 25 January 1992) is a Scottish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career In 2018, Hogarth qualified for the 2019 BDO World Darts Championship as a qualifier, but he lost 3–1 ...

. In the final, he faced

Dylan Slevin Dylan Slevin (born 19 November 2002) is an Irish professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He obtained a PDC Tour Card in January 2023. He previously won two medals in the WDF Europe Cup Youth an ...

and defeated him by 6–3 in legs. Since November 2022, he has been the leader of the

men's ranking.

Personal life

Klaasen lives in

Goor Goor () is a city about 20 km west of Enschede in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It received city rights in 1263. Goor was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part of Hof van Twente. Goor was the site of a statue of the r ...

, Netherlands. He has

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

origins. Before the 2006 World Championships, Klaasen worked for a manpower agency in the Netherlands but he has now taken up darts full-time. He is sponsored by Keukenconcurrent, a company that produces fitted kitchens in his home country.

Controversy in 2012

In August 2012, Klaasen was accused of sending naked photo messages to a then 15-year-old family friend of his compatriot – fellow

, which he has admitted to in the Dutch press. Klaasen and Van Gerwen were reportedly very close friends before the incident took place. According to her mother, the underaged girl was diagnosed with

PDD-NOS A pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (Including atypical autism) (PDD-NOS) is one of four disorders which were collapsed into the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in the DSM-5 and also was one of the five disorders clas ...

, an

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

spectrum disorder. Though during the prosecution service process (the case didn't go to court) this was never proven. Later that year, on 13 December, he was sentenced to 16 hours of community service and a fine of €327, to be paid to the girl. Since the controversy no love has been lost between Klaasen and Van Gerwen, with the latter even going as far as saying he ‘hates’ Klaasen, the two do not talk, shake hands or even acknowledge each other when they play.

World Championship results

BDO/WDF

* 2006: Winner (beat Raymond van Barneveld 7–5) * 2007: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2023:

PDC

* 2008: First round (lost to

2–3) * 2009: Quarter-finals (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 1–5) * 2010: First round (lost to

1–3) * 2011: First round (lost to Steve Brown 1–3) * 2012: Second round (lost to

0–4) * 2014: First round (lost to

1–3) * 2015: Second round (lost to Gary Anderson 3–4) * 2016: Semi-finals (lost to Gary Anderson 0–6) * 2017: Third round (lost to

2–4) * 2018: First round (lost to

1–3) * 2019: Second round (lost to

1–3) * 2020: Second round (lost to

1–3)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)

''Note''

Performance timeline

BDO

References

External links

Jelle Klaasen's management website
*
"Klaasen springs world title shock"
BBC SPort {{DEFAULTSORT:Klaasen, Jelle 1984 births Living people Dutch darts players BDO world darts champions Dutch people of Indonesian descent Indo people People from Alphen-Chaam Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders British Darts Organisation players PDC ranking title winners Sportspeople from North Brabant