Kim Huybrechts is one of the three Belgians who will compete for the title at the World Matchplay in Blackpool from July 15 to July 23. The prestigious summer tournament has not really been favorable to 'The Hurricane' in recent years.
Huybrechts has competed in the World Matchplay eight times before. Only once did the Belgian make it to the second round at the Winter Gardens. ''It hasn't really proved to be my venue in recent years,'' Huybrechts acknowledged in a preview with 433 Darts.
At the same time, Huybrechts concludes that things haven't always worked out for him in Blackpool. ''I can remember a match against Gerwyn Price (8-10 win for Price, ed.) that was exciting. Lost against Dave Chisnall once 10-7. Lost the first year I competed (in 2012, ed.) against Terry Jenkins after a tiebreak (9-11). Very often to the limit, but that the dime just falls the other way. But okay. There has to be one edition that has nice results and let's hope that is this year.''
Weekend nail biting
It was still tense for Huybrechts whether he was going to be there at the World Matchplay at all. In the last tournament before the cut-off, an early defeat against Keane Barry at the Euro Tour tournament in Trier put Huybrechts in the last qualifying spot. And so 'The Hurricane' was waiting for a long weekend to see if he was going to make it.
''I actually tried not to get too involved. I started throwing local tournaments, so definitely haven't been glued to the tube. I thought I messed up against Keane Barry, especially when I saw the draw for Simon Whitlock. That one was pretty reasonable anyway. But that turned out to be not so bad. Then suddenly you had the phenomenon Gian van Veen who decided to throw fantastic matches. He had to win the tournament to knock me off my throne. That was a difficult task but with the form he had, it could have been done. In the end I got away with it'', concluded the two-time major finalist.
Best effort against Van Duijvenbode
Huybrechts faces another tough duel in the first round of the World Matchplay this year. The draw paired him with Dirk van Duijvenbode, one of the best scoring players on the circuit.
''It is a tough draw because Dirk is a player in form,'' the Antwerp native agreed. ''But the top-16 of the Pro Tour plays against the top-16 of the world rankings so it was always going to be a tough draw. So in that respect it could be better, could be worse. Dirk is clearly the favorite, is in a good flow as well. But I'm going to do my best to bring the match to a good end.''
However, the 37-year-old Belgian knows the weakness of the Dutchman. Dirk's scoring ability is very high. Here and there you get chances against him on the doubles. We also saw that against Luke Humphries (in the final of the European Darts Matchplay, ed.). The last darts didn't go in. But at this moment he is one of the better players on this planet.''
The draw for the 2023 World Matchplay has been made and the number one seeded World Champion Michael Smith will face Steve Beaton in the first round. However the outstanding tie is without a shadow of a doubt: Dave Chisnall versus Gary Anderson. #Darts I #WorldMatchplay I #WM23
