"The pressure sometimes creates mental challenges" - 13-year-old Lex Paeshuyse impresses in debut Advanced Tour season

In his very first season on the Advanced Tour - the highest competition for the best darts talents in the world - Lex Paeshuyse (13) managed to impress immediately. The young Dutchman continues to amaze with his achievements at the international level. The secret behind his success? A good dose of relatability. "I sometimes get tired of my darts too," Lex frankly admits to The Nieuwsblad.

At the end of December Paeshuyse crowned himself world champion of the JDC, the youth division of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), the association where the world top is active. Like established names like Dimitri Van den Bergh and Mike De Decker, the youth also plays on the Advanced Tour: five weekends with four tournaments per weekend, good for a total of twenty tournaments. Always in Coventry, England, with 32 players competing for the title.

He eventually dragged in three tournament wins and finished handsomely third in the standings with 43 points. Only Tergel Khurelkhuu (53) and Ryan Branley (52) preceded him. Of them, only Branley won more titles: four to be exact. "On the one hand I didn't expect this of myself, but on the other hand I did," Paeshuyse says. "There were twenty chances, so winning three times is a nice result. I'm especially happy with my third place in the standings, because that shows that I threw consistently."

Although he sometimes cursed himself heavily after lesser matches - in which he threw averages of 70 to 75 - over the entire season he managed to raise his level to an average of about 80 points per turn. "At this level it just has to be," Lex said. The Junior Power League, a competition with the top ten talents played each Friday before the Advanced Tour tournaments, helped him do that. "Those competitions were good preparation to keep my level constant. I even threw averages in the 90s several times, which you also see in the pros."

Lex sets high goals for himself and that also brings pressure. "I'm very competitive and want to win, anything even. I compete for that trophy, not for being there. That's why it's important to set the bar high." That pressure sometimes creates mental challenges. "If I don't throw for a few days, I can really sit with it. Then I take a short break to recharge. Sometimes I also just get tired of my arrows, like a few months ago, when I felt like it kept following tournament after tournament. Now I try to manage my schedule better and find a balance between match rhythm and rest."

Despite his young age, Lex shows impressive maturity. "Actually, we didn't want to enter this competition, but because of the Junior Power League, he started anyway," his mother Inez says. "He loved competing against the best in the world. In Belgium he often plays against the same opponents, so this was a new challenge. We left for England with no expectations, so this result is really handsome and a huge boost to his self-confidence."

Still, Lex keeps both feet on the ground. "He's not the most social, he doesn't consciously seek the spotlight," his mother says. "He always has a small, satisfied grin on his face when things are going well. Lex is not easily impressed, whether by himself or the circumstances. He tells himself that he is happy with every victory, but that he has a plan in his head. He doesn't want to create too much hype too soon."

That self-confidence should not be confused with arrogance, those around him emphasize. "Lex has ambition, but not a thick neck. He also pays close attention to what he says or does because he knows he is a role model. For example, we took Facebook off his phone because he doesn't want to be confronted with negative comments."

The Paeshuyse family's dart life can now be called professional, with regular trips abroad. Yet Lex also stays active locally, playing one tournament after another. "You make it your own adventure each time and learn all the time," says Lex. "The first times in England were more tiring, but now it almost feels like home. I can also get along well in English and have made friends on the tour, which makes it easier."

This summer, England probably won't be on the schedule. The family is not even sure if there will be a vacation this year. "We have to fine-tune our planning," his mother explains. "There are still tournaments in Hungary and Gibraltar on the agenda and around Christmas we are expecting a baby in the family. We're often on the road, so then it's nice to be home for a while, too."