Van Duijvenbode does not complain about busy schedule: "Am in cycle of 138 days without a day off, but this is a luxury position"

Dirk van Duijvenbode already won his third Players Championship of the year last weekend. But 'Aubergenius' hunger is far from satisfied.

"I'm still happy, but in a different way," Van Duijvenbode opens to AD.nl.

"With your first titles you're on a high for a few days, but now I'm already thinking about the next tournaments anyway. But winning is not a given so of course I am still happy.

"You now win three out of 10 Players Championships and where before you might have been happy to make it to the quarter-finals, now you are only concerned with winning. Your own goals get higher too."

Winning three tournaments was Van Duijvenbode's goal at the start of this year. "You want to win every tournament, but of course that won't work out. Now I have to try to grab a fourth, which is the next goal again.

"Ideally I want to win ten, but everyone wants that. At this rate, I'll win nine out of 30 Players Championships this year, but that's really not going to happen. I'm well on my way, but I need to keep this form and, above all, take that form into the television tournaments. That's very important."

TV title

Van Duijvenbode is still waiting for a first TV title, he was close at the end of March when he lost particularly narrowly to Gerwyn Price in the final of the European Darts Open.

"I had a lot of trouble with that. I was really sick of it. Not that I had motivation problems afterwards, but normally I get over the disappointment within a day, now it lasted a good week. The biggest disappointment was that I approached my match darts the wrong way. I was throwing them way too fast. Especially for that first one, I should have taken much more time. No, that has nothing to do with nerves."

The next major (World Matchplay) is scheduled for mid-July. 'If I keep going like this, I could take some rest before then. I am now always busy seven days a week and am now in the middle of a cycle of 138 days without a day off.

"That's quite a long cycle. Maybe I could skip a weekend. But when everything is going well, everything is fun and I am doing well with my sleep and eating so I feel good and healthy. This afternoon I will also just go back to work, I am not used to anything else."

"It has never been as busy as it is now, but I will never complain about it," the 30-year-old Dutchman continued. "It's a luxury position that I have qualified for all the Euro Tours. You sometimes hear players complain about the busy schedule, but then you stay home, right? I also heard players who had had a three-week break. What do you prefer then?"