Van Duijvenbode shrouds himself in silence about big goal at World Darts Championship: ''You have to be a little careful with that''

For Dirk van Duijvenbode, the World Darts Championship starts Thursday afternoon with a duel against Karel Sedlacek in the second round. A tough opponent, who impressed in the first round against Raymond Smith.

Van Duijvenbode himself liked having a strong opponent in his first match, as he indicated earlier. 'I like it. I have a very difficult sequel after that, so I'm glad I don't have a too easy first round'', noted 'Aubergenius' ahead of the World Darts Championship.

He is keeping his cards close to his chest in terms of his big goal for the tournament, although he wants to get through at least his first two matches. ''Then you are in the last sixteen and you always do well in terms of ranking. Other goals I keep to myself. Two years ago my goal was the semifinals, but I said I wanted to reach the quarterfinals. I made it. If you say you want to reach the semifinals, they think, "What are you talking about at your second World Championship? You have to be a bit careful with that,'" he said in an interview with AD.nl.

Should Van Duijvenbode reach the fourth round, then possibly a clash with fellow countryman Michael van Gerwen awaits. That makes the task of reaching the quarterfinals even more difficult, just like in the 2021 edition.

''Michael is currently throwing better than everyone, but it is important that I play my own game. Then I'm not afraid of anyone. First make sure we both get into that fourth round,'' Van Duijvenbode concluded.