Kuivenhoven couldn't celebrate after recapturing Tour Card: "Been in bed sick all week"

Maik Kuivenhoven lost his PDC Tour Card at the end of last year. At Q-School, however, he immediately recaptured it.

"What a relief," Kuivenhoven opens to Darts Actueel. "Surely there have been moments when I doubted whether I would return to the Pro Tour. Last year I lost several matches particularly narrowly and as a result I finished just outside the top-64 of the world rankings."

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Falling ill

Kuivenhoven was already sure of a Tour Card after the third final day of Q-School and eventually finished first in the rankings with 11 points. "Still, I didn't party afterwards. After all, the night I was sure of my Tour Card I fell ill and after that I couldn't do anything for a week anyway. I have only just started working again."

The 34-year-old Dutchman competed at last year's Dutch Darts Masters, a World Series tournament. "I really enjoyed that, there was a great atmosphere in the Ziggo Dome. I actually experienced that as a kind of World Championship, those are the moments you do it all for."

Keep working

Kuivenhoven currently still works five days a week for a horticultural company. "I'm going to keep doing that as well. This will give me some financial security, because if you really want to live from just darts, you have to be in the top-32 of the world rankings."

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