INTERVIEW: De Zwaan prepares for dream Premier League Darts debut: "At first I thought I was invited for the whole season"

The Dutch prodigy takes to the stage on Thursday. He will be part of the Premier League Darts' Judgement Night - but as he plays current table-topper Rob Cross, he won't be involved in anything at the business end of the survival fight. De Zwaan has stepped in to replace Gary Anderson as one of the nine 'contenders'. Dimitri van den Bergh is first up in the Rotterdam double-header; De Zwaan will be the final contender of the year.
For a brief moment, the Black Cobra thought there wouldn't be any contenders at all.
"It was a Monday [February 4, when Anderson dropped out]. I was at work, and got an email from the PDC with the subject 'Premier League invite'. I got goosebumps all over my body," de Zwaan revealed to dartsnews.com in an exclusive interview.
"Because of the subject of the email, at first I thought I was invited for the whole season! Then I found out that it was for one game, but it remains a dream come true."

The former World Youth Master is now gearing up for a rematch with Cross. Back in December, the pair played out an outstanding second round tie at the PDC World Championship. The then-reigning world champion won it 3-1, but de Zwaan averaged 106.09 and impressed the darting community. Now he plans to turn the tables. "The match against Cross at the World Championship is definitely still in my mind," he said. "This is hopefully a moment for revenge. "There will be a lot of emotion in this game. First, of course, because it's a dream come true that I get to play a Premier League match at the Ahoy. I then have to play Cross, which gives it an additional edge, because of our World Championship contest."

The Leidschendam native, born not far from Raymond van Barneveld's hometown of Den Haag, will be joining Barney and Michael van Gerwen on the Dutch roster in front of a passionate Rotterdam crowd. He owes his Premier League Darts invitation to an outstanding 2018 season. De Zwaan reached three Pro Tour finals, winning one. He also caught the eye for knocking van Gerwen out of both the UK Open and the World Matchplay. In the latter, the 23-year-old went all the way to the semi-finals. Naturally, great results come with higher expectations - not just from fans, but from himself. He doesn't consider that to be a major problem, but did admit that pressure isn't exactly inconspicuous. "I'm not bothered, but I notice that there is more pressure on my shoulders. This is perhaps also from myself, because I expect more from myself. "People just expect more from me, and sometimes it's difficult to deal with. For example, if I go somewhere with friends, and I get approached. They say 'yes, you'll get there', but then you still need to make it happen."

The first weeks of the 2019 season haven't been entirely smooth. Whereas de Zwaan had two finals under his belt last year, he has not been past the last 16 of any tournament so far. A lack of rhythm is to blame.
"In January I took a month's vacation, I visited family in Thailand. I had done nothing with darts in that period. You notice a month doing nothing affects your game. You then have to try to get back, and I'm feeling better now."
Development is the name of the game for de Zwaan. Next year, he aims to start the season in better shape. "I doubt I'll be doing the same next year," he said. "Of course I'll go on vacation, but perhaps a shorter one, or closer to home, so I can keep my form a bit level."