Huybrechts opens 'Dartshop Hurricane': "This quenches the darting thirst, should things go wrong in the sport"

Darts has been on a serious rise in Belgium in recent years. Kim Huybrechts, a professional player himself, has now capitalized on that popularity by opening a darts store.

"Dartsshop Hurricane" is the name of the store that Huybrechts and his wife Dana will operate in Nijlen. "Ten years ago I wouldn't have done this. No way! But you see it already today, here has constantly been ten people in the store. Before the opening I had some nerves, but it's really nice. They were already queuing at the door this morning, as early as 9:30 am while we opened at 10 am. I found that very annoying because we don't have any curtains, so they see you constantly then. So it was a 'bit of a pain' to have to leave people outside like that," Huybrechts told Het Nieuwsblad.

Huybrechts also realizes he has enough earnings to go for it. "I have made a good living by joining the world top and playing the Premier League, but I have also seen the downside by falling back a bit. This quenches the darting thirst, should things go wrong in the sport. Because you never know."

From now on, the 36-year-old Belgian will also train in a space behind the store. "Yes, if it's a little quieter I can come here and throw some darts. I can also give lessons and workshops here. A few months ago we decided on this just because of the many requests for it. We did those at home for a while, but still want to keep our private life a little bit. A friend then said of: Why don't you start a store? My wife also just quit her job then, because she was a little tired of it, and she was right along when I said with a smile of: Come, we'll start a store. She's totally doing the shop now, but for the first few months, people would also come here to see my stupid head. So Dana mans the shop, I take the classes and workshops after hours. By the way, she knows enough about it because she's been throwing herself almost all her life and knows how it all works."

Huybrechts himself still burns with ambition. "The form is good. I can't complain. I recently tried a new set-up and I'm very content with that. The training sessions are fantastic, hopefully I can now transfer that to matches. Next season we will then try to do a full season. That was the intention, but due to circumstances the training sessions have been a bit lacking. We can get back into it from now on and the top 24 is the goal. Unfortunately I don't have that yet, but a good World Championship might. But I'm not going to worry about it and work quietly back towards the top."