Petersen counting the cost after his maths gaffe (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Petersen counting the cost after his maths gaffe

4:40pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Sport By Simon Parker

Devon Petersen will be sure to check his sums right this weekend after an amazing World Cup miscount.

The Bradford-based South African returns to the oche in Crawley for the next round of UK Open qualifiers.

But he is still getting stick for the maths gaffe that cost his country a semi-final shot in Hamburg on Saturday.

Petersen and partner Shawn Hogan were on the brink of taking underdogs South Africa into the last four.

After upset wins over Spain and Gary Anderson’s Scotland, Petersen needed a 61 check-out to knock off Wales in a sudden-death decider.

But he miscalculated after missing the outer bull to hit a 12. With 49 left, Petersen thought he was on 39 - making the single seven and double 16 before realising his error as he started to celebrate.

Opponent Richie Burnett, who the 25-year-old had earlier beaten with a 12-dart finish in a brilliant singles win, drained the next double to leave the red-faced Petersen ruing his blunder.

Petersen said: “In a good way, I’ll probably be remembered more for missing that double than if I’d hit it and we’d won.

“There have been a lot of jokes with people saying that they’ve sent me calculators in the post and things like that! I’ve just got to laugh it off now and I’ll move on.

“But I’ve played that 61 over and over again in my head. I still don’t know what happened.

“I was so confident that I’d hit the 25 with my first dart. I got 12 instead and then for some reason convinced myself I was on 39.

“If you look at the TV pictures, I even looked across at the markers to make sure. I’m sure one of them seemed to say yes.

“The worst thing was that I hit the 32 as sweet as a nut right in the centre of the bed! I was halfway through my celebration and then I realised and the world just stood still.

“But it was a dream getting chosen to play in the World Cup. To reach my first televised quarter-final was a big thing.”

Petersen and Hogan punched above their weight to get that far. Spain were semi-finalists the previous year and Scotland were second favourites to win the tournament.

Petersen added: “We’ve got good experience playing together in the Africa Cup, so I knew the type of player Shawn is.

“It’s about partnerships in team darts. With (Adrian) Lewis and (Phil) Taylor for England it’s a clash of egos; they’re both as big and don’t want to be outshone by the other.

“I knew Shawn can play on the big stage. He would throw a ton and set me up for a shot at the double each time.”

After making a name for himself at the World Championships, Petersen’s profile has been further boosted by his performance in Germany. His sights are now set on making the World Matchplay later in the year.

He said: “Irrespective of the accolades and rewards, the fact the audience really appreciates you speaks volumes.

“We went out for a meal after being knocked out and people were coming up to me asking for signatures and photos.

“Where I come from, people don’t even know I play darts. It’s a good feeling being recognised and just makes you want to do even more.”