Brian Raman on final victory at Dutch Open: ''I actually had no intention of playing the Dutch Open at all''

Brian Raman failed to reclaim his Tour Card at Q-School early this year. The 27-year-old Belgian did, however, contest the pairs tournament of the Dutch Open 2024 with Damian Mol in early February. In an interview with Double Top, Raman and his Dutch pairing mate talked about Q-School, the final victory in Assen and their plans for the upcoming season.

Raman picked up his Tour Card two years ago, but failed to keep it due to various problems, including a shoulder injury. In January he tried to regain his Tour Card, but failed to win a single match in the final phase of European Q-School. Only after Q-School did Raman decide to participate in the Dutch Open. ''I actually didn't plan to play the Dutch Open at all, because I didn't know how it would turn out with my surgery. I knew Damian no longer had a pairing mate, so I notified him right away.''

In the final, Mol and Raman defeated the pair of Jimmy van Schie and Jeroen Mioch 5-1 in legs. Mol in particular impressed in the final, throwing an individual average of 106.''Damian threw absurdly well. I think in the beginning of the tournament I made sure we were still in it, Damian was not really in it yet. For the rest of the tournament Damian threw super.''

Although Raman initially did not plan to play at the Dutch Open he is proud that they won the pairs tournament. ''Me and Damian said from the beginning that we would go all the way.''

Now that Raman has lost his Tour Card, he wants to play WDF tournaments in the coming period to try to qualify for Lakeside. He also wants to play in the qualification tournament for Ally Pally. If I qualify for that I don't mind not participating in Lakeside, because I have already played there once.'' In addition, Raman has set several other goals for the coming year. It would also be great to qualify for the two EuroTour tournaments in Belgium this year.''