INTERVIEW - De Zwaan not bothered by qualifcation stress: 'Form retention is the most important thing'

Jeffrey de Zwaan reached the semi-finals at the World Matchplay in July, but the season is not over yet. 'The Black Cobra' wants to re-assert himself in the autumn, when the most important events are on the schedule.

The Dutchman has at least qualified for the Players Championship Finals and the World Championship. De Zwaan can also still qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts through the qualifier on November 5. ''Players are away from home a lot these months, because of the televised tournaments. This are the most important months of the season. You need to be in form'', De Zwaan confirms in an interview with . ''I have much less stress then the players who are just outside qualification for the majors. I have played at the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix already in the past few months. In the next few weeks I can focus already on the Players Championship Finals and the World Championship.'' While De Zwaan has no stress to qualify for the TV events, he is a bit worried about his shoulder injury. He has suffered from this for years, but due to medical treatments the pain decreased, until the end of the summer. ''Form retention is the most important thing in the coming weeks. Also it's waiting to see how my shoulder is doing. I have had more problems with my shoulder recently than before and I am doing a lot of physio and massages currently to make my shoulder better.'' ''The shoulder injury has no effect on my results. However, I noticed that I have to put more strength in my throw to throw well. But that adjustment does not affect my game.''

Missing the European Championship

The Dutchman performed well on the Pro Tour and the televised tournaments, but the results on the European Tour were disappointing. De Zwaan only qualified four times for these events, while he lost three times in the first round.
As a result, 'The Black Cobra' missed qualification for the European Championship, which starts on Thursday evening. A weekend off for De Zwaan, something he does not mind at all.
''I did not count on qualification for the European Championship anymore. I had to reach the final during the last European Tour event to get there. I would have loved to play in Dortmund, but I do not mind a weekend off. Now I can give my shoulder some rest as well.''

Expectations

Because of De Zwaan's good results in the last few months, people expect more from the Dutchman. Two victories over Michael van Gerwen during the TV tournaments this year, obviously provide higher expectations. The 22-year-old from Leidschendam finds it difficult sometimes to deal with this. However, De Zwaan also realizes that higher expectations come with good performances. ''It became more difficult to deal with the expectations. I'm more in the picture and everyone expects more from me now. That put more pressure on me.'' ''More people are coming to me on the street for a photo or autograph, I have no problems with that. That is part of performing well, then you have to deal with things like that.''

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