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"I am absolutely not materialistic, even my clothes are almost all free" - Dirk van Duijvenbode attaches little importance to money
PDCWednesday, 18 September 2024 at 12:00
Dirk van Duijvenbode is quietly on his way back from a nasty shoulder injury. Last weekend, 'Aubergenius' reached the quarterfinals at the 2024 World Series of Darts Finals. But who is the person behind the darter Van Duijvenbode?
Van Duijvenbode appears to have absolutely no materialistic attitude, and if he has to choose between a car or a bicycle, it is not a difficult choice. "The bicycle. My girlfriend has a car, but cars really don't interest me at all. Zero. I just bike to work. I'm not materialistic at all. My most expensive purchases since I started making good money playing darts are a bicycle for myself, a bicycle for my girlfriend, a PlayStation and, to top it all off, a boat I bought with my father-in-law. But I consider that more of an investment in my little free time. On the water I unwind," Van Duijvenbode told De Telegraaf.
He also doesn't have too many demands when it comes to clothing. "You actually see me running in free clothing all the time. Whether it's from a sponsor, from my work or something I was sent. Of course I have a neat little polo shirt for an occasion or something like that, but you won't see me running in Gucci. If that happens, then I'm not doing well."
Dirk van Duijvenbode in his well-known style on stage
In darts it is important to be good at math, Van Duijvenbode had a knack for it from a young age and does not have to think long when asked what his favourite subject in school was. "Math. I always liked that. In the breaks I would sit and check the head math tests of the class, I always got A's. Whether that made darts extra fun for me? Well, in the beginning I wrote a lot (the scores, as a referee, ed.). Only then do you start to recognize the routes, why someone does one thing or another to end up on double 20 or double 16. When you start to understand this, it becomes more and more fun."
Van Duijvenbode has been with his girlfriend for some time; is marriage on the horizon? "I would like to and is on the planning, yes. Whether I like it... Yes and no, but the latter is purely because I don't feel like being in the spotlight all day and that everything then revolves around you. A speech is forbidden to me. A waste of time. I have seen that so often. The USB stick doesn't work again, others fall asleep. You lose an hour of the party and it doesn't last that long. Just give me good food and a nice party."
More than a year ago, Van Duijvenbode became a father for the first time. "If you talk about the best thing that can happen to you, I think so. You also just suddenly see yourself again, a young version of it. When my mom comes back with my little son Levi, she also says, 'It's like I'm thirty years back in time.' He's also nice and busy and resourceful. I used to hang out in the lamps myself. I had a period of less sleep after Levi was born, but never minded it for a moment. I just love it. He is also a reason you do what you do. I hope one day to be able to retire early through darts - but whether I actually do then is a second thing - and give him a bright future."
The 32-year-old Dutchman lives in 's-Gravenzande and performed at AFAS Live in Amsterdam last weekend. Which place bears his preference? "My hometown of 's-Gravenzande. But when I look at darts, I got to play two finals in Amsterdam (of the Dutch Darts Masters and the World Series Finals in 2022, ed.). That's where I have the best memories. Rotterdam, with the Premier League night in Ahoy, is still very far away and of course I would like to participate in that again. I need great performances for that."
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