De Zwaan may lose Tour Card: 'One year out is maybe good'

Jeffrey de Zwaan has not yet qualified for the PDC World Darts Championship. Yet there are still two chances for the 26-year-old Dutchman.

De Zwaan will still take part in the Western European qualifying tournament and the qualifying tournament for Tour Card holders. "I haven't qualified yet and that's very sour," De Zwaan responded to Omroep West. "That is something I do have to process for a while."

Last weekend, De Zwaan could have qualified provided some good performances at the Players Championship, but that went wrong.

"If you also see what kind of draw I had...," sighed The Black Cobra. "The first day I get Luke Humphries, he's the number one on the Pro Tour. I ended up winning that one, but then I got Gary Anderson right after that and I lost that match. 'The second day was what it was really all about. Then I got equal Daryl Gurney. I threw 103 average myself and played incredibly well, but did go down 6-5. When I look at my competitors at that time who also had to play, they did have easier opponents."

De Zwaan also struggled with a shoulder injury in recent years. "Fortunately, it is going a lot better. I am on a six-week course with a physiotherapist at the hospital. There it was found that I have 50 per cent instability in my shoulder. We are working on getting the instability out. It feels a lot better and I am playing very well again. Those are the bright spots for me that I am holding on to."

"Suppose I lose my tour card and don't qualify for the World Championship, a year out might be good," De Zwaan continued. "Then I can fully focus on the recovery of my shoulder and focus on the year after."