Interview; Kim Huybrechts – Belgium’s Euro Champs Sensation!

If you’re a regular visitor to this website, you know I like to talk to the new names and up and coming talent in the PDC darts world.  So I’ve moved as fast I as ever have (almost as fast as when someone offers to buy me a drink!) and have been lucky to be able to ask a few questions of Kim Huybrechts, the Belgium darter who impressed so many of us at the European Championships that’s just ended.

Kim asked me to forgive his English, but as my Flemish & French is non-existent, I think he’s got nothing to forgive!  I do hope we get to see more of him on the TV, and I look forward to meeting him at a pro tour event in the UK, so I wish him best of luck with getting a sponsor to enable him to do so.

Q. How do you rate your run to the 1/4 finals in that tournament in your darts career to date?

This is for certain the most beautiful moment in my darting career, not only playing quarter-finals, but also playing the first round against Alcinas with that average, playing world number 7 Wez Newton, giving the crowd, drama, happiness and hope in that game.  And surely playing the world champion Adrian Lewis and giving him a very hard game. This weekend had everything for me. It brought me happiness, stress, pride and joy!

Q. If you read my leg by leg ‘commentary’ of you game vs. Newton, I must admit I thought you’d feel the pressure after your great first round game, but I have to admit I was wrong.  Did you feel any pressure at all?  How did you prepare for the game, against what is a real ‘form player’ at the moment? 

Off course! The pressure was huge at a certain moment, but I pulled myself together and said to myself “Kim stay focussed” (Which Wes didn’t like – that was the incident). I really didn’t do anything special to prepare myself against Wes. I just wanted to enjoy the game, playing for such an enthusiastic and huge crowd. And I have to say I enjoyed it all! From my first dart on stage until my last dart!

Q. You had a double 6 to get back to 9-9 in a game against the World Champion Adrian Lewis, what was going through your head at that moment?

It was double 12 to be correct  (OOPS!) I had 72 left, played treble 16, just outside double 12 and the last dart went into single 12… But that doesn’t matter.
That moment when I hit treble 16, my hand started shaking and I really got nervous, but I think that’s normal playing the World Champion on such a big stage in front of 1600 fans in the quarter finals of an European Championship and on your PDC TV debut

Q. You must have been disappointed when Adrian Lewis threw the winning dart, but I hope you feel proud how you performed in front of so many TV darts fans?

I really wasn’t disappointed, in fact I think I was one of the happiest people in the room. ( after Adrian I think! ) I started enjoying the moments on stage again, like I played in the two previous rounds, and that wasn’t something I was doing in the beginning of the game against Adrian.  So you surely can say that I was proud.  And even more proud that the world champ said on TV that I could be in the Top 16 of the PDC in two years time if I keep playing like this!

Q. Has there been much news about your performance in Belgium?  Your name is all over the UK darts forums and websites like mine!

Yes you can say that for sure!  I’ve received a lot off messages from dart friends and people I don’t even know that they where proud of being a Belgian darter again!  And the people in Belgium surely deserve this because we love darts over here !  The news also got into the newspapers and websites here which is special because darts isn’t a popular sport over here in the press.

Q. Alan Warriner-Little of the PDPA said on TV that he’s “signed you up” as a full member now – does that mean you now are going to come to the UK to play more games on the Pro Tour?

I’m talking to a possible sponsor at the moment so if that works out, I’ll be playing a whole lot more in the UK in the future, and this is something I want very badly, because playing darts in the UK is something that can pull my level a few notches.

Q. Looking back on your results, you have been doing well in the German, Dutch and Austrian PDC events, so your talent is obvious – would you ever be tempted to copy players such as Simon Whitlock and move to the UK ‘to give it a go’?

No I don’t think so. I’m a real family and friends kind of guy, so I would miss the people I’m close to to much. Belgium isn’t as far as Australia, I’m in England in maybe an hour with the train and then drive to the location as for your example he had to flew to the other side of the world if he wanted to play darts in England.  So I think I’m just going to stay over here in beautiful Belgium   (OK so I feel a bit stupid with that question now.. )

Q. So we can get to know you better – when did you start playing darts, and how do you get into darts in Belgium?  Is there much of a local team set-up, or do you have to rely on practice and open tournaments?

My parents had a bar even long before I was born and there was darts the main event every weekend.  So when I was a child I always was watching the players here and trying to copy them even before I could walk.  My family is also a very famous darting family in Belgium. My brother and his 2 sons play darts, my father, uncle, aunts, and cousins all play darts, and coincidence or not they all play very good!  My brother even plays in the Belgium national team for many years! We won the WDF Europe cup together with 2 friends last year in Turkey beating, Scotland, England Sweden and the Netherlands after the group stage. We have a good competition over here with very good players! Me and my brother also play in the Dutch Superleague alongside Jelle Klaasen and Gino Vos. We also have a lot of tournaments over here but they aren’t so rewarding in financial way that’s why me and my brother often play tournaments in Holland.

Q. Do you see darts as a fun hobby, something a little more serious, or do you have ‘a plan’ to be a full time pro with specific world ranking targets?

It’s my dream to make it my job! And I will try to realize that dream. The next step is to get a sponsor who is financially right for me, so I can make some steps to become a pro player.

Q. Who are your darting heroes?

My biggest darting hero is my brother! He taught me the most things I know in darts ! He is a great player!  Always very confident, always a big fighter if he’s behind, and he is one of the best players Belgium ever had.  Beside that I don’t really have a player I admire, but off course my respect for Phil Taylor is huge, he is the greatest character darts has ever seen.  The greatest thing I admire about Taylor is the part that he always is favourite for a tournament and he almost always fills up that role and that is the hardest thing in darts.  To go to the top is hard but to stay at the top for all these years is even harder! And that is the thing what makes Phil Taylor so special for me.

Q. One I ask all players – are you a big practiser?  Do you have certain practice routines you stick to, or is it just what you feel is right?

I regret that I’m not a big practiser, because it would crank up my level big time. But when I have to practice alone I get bored or distracted easily. I do often practice with friends, and play a whole lot of tournament in Holland and Belgium.  5 days in a week if I’m off to a tournament. If I want to be a top player I have to practice a whole lot more and that’s the plan because the hunger for more success like the European Championship is huge.

Q. And finally – it looks like you’ll be on our TV screens again for the World Championships – do you think it will be easier or harder for you now that people will know your name and expect big things from you?

This weekend brought a whole lot with it for me, cause now the other players know who I am now, at the European Championship some players heard of me because of my semi final in Austria but most didn’t really know how I played. So it’s a story with 2 sides I guess, on the one side they wont underestimate me any more so they want to play top level against me, and on the other side if you play someone you don’t know sometimes you play even more confident.  So maybe the players will make some more mistakes because of a little bit more pressure now that they know what I’m capable of doing.

Well I’d like to thank Kim for answering my questions so quickly, and so well – and he didn’t make me try and use Google translate!  I have no doubt we’ll be seeing him rise up the PDC rankings if things do come off for him and he’s able to play in more events on the tour.  I’d like to wish him well for the World Championships too!

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