Kim Huybrechts had a great weekend at the
Czech Darts Open. The 38-year-old Belgian was allowed to fill in for the ill Rob Cross and reached the final to everyone's surprise. There he lost 8-1 to Luke Humphries.
For Huybrechts, it was his sixth final on the European Tour, but only his first since 2017. 'The Hurricane' defeated consecutively Luke Woodhouse, Pavel Drtil, Jermaine Wattimena and Niels Zonneveld on his way to the final. In the final, Huybrechts seemed to have run out of energy, sticking to an average of just under 90 versus Humphries' 105.57.
Nevertheless, satisfaction prevailed afterwards for Huybrechts, who thanks to his strong performance last weekend also secured a spot for the upcoming World Darts Championship.
"I am happy to have reached another final," said the No. 37 ranked player in the world. "I hadn't even originally qualified for this tournament, to make it to the final here is obviously great."
Tough year
Huybrechts has had a particularly difficult year on the Pro Tour. He did not manage to qualify for a single Euro Tour and only at this last tournament as a substitute did he get to compete. "This match against Luke came too early for me," Huybrechts said. "Last week I struggled to make the World Cup, so to be in a final now against the world number one, that was always going to be difficult."
Still, Huybrechts looks to the future with confidence. "Give me another year or 18 months - if I have this flow in me, I will give it a match!"
Huybrechts had even qualified for the European Championship after winning the Czech Darts Open. His main goal, however, was to reach the World Championship and Huybrechts succeeded in doing so, who now gets to play at Alexandra Palace for the fourteenth year in a row.