Klaasen Happy With Slower Throw

JELLE KLAASEN will look to take his slower action into the PartyPoker.net European Championship.

The Dutchman enjoyed his best televised run for 18 months when he reached the quarter-finals of the StanJames.com World Matchplay last week.

He defeated Mervyn King and Gary Anderson in Blackpool before eventually losing to Simon Whitlock - but felt a new approach to his quick-fire game paid off at the Winter Gardens.

"I tried to slow down and it felt good," he said. "I'm always trying to improve my game and I've tried something new on stage now, and I played well.

"I think I'll try to play slower now in every tournament. It didn't feel natural for me, because I'm not used to playing slowly, but it felt good.

"If I play slowly I stay a little bit calmer and don't have as many big misses, like missing the 20."

Klaasen's opening game in the PartyPoker.net European Championship on Thursday sees him face fellow Dutchman Vincent van der Voort, arguably the sport's quickest player.

Klaasen was a semi-finalist last November when the European Championship was played in Holland, and is hoping for similar success in Dinslaken.

"I played well last year and I like the tournament," he said. "I'm playing Vincent again and it will be a quick match, and the best man will win.

"It will be a hard match to play because we travel all the time and are good friends, but when we get on stage we're enemies and want to beat each other 6-0."

Watch the PartyPoker.net European Championship live on Sport1 in Germany and on Bravo in the UK - Bravo can be found at channel 123 on Sky and 136 on Virgin Media.