At some point during commentary on the opening night of the PDC World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace in London, former British Darts Organisation (BDO) star Mark Webster referred to Kim Huybrechts of Belgium as a “Journeyman pro”. The description rankles with me, always has. Now read on…
Regardless of the sport or competitor it comes across a slight. As if the concerned individual is merely there to make up the numbers. The bristling Belgian is far from that. As is anybody who makes it to the Ally Pally at Christmas.
Indeed, in the early stages of the curtain raiser for the battle for the Sid Waddell Trophy, it appeared the firey Flemish was about to defy logic, expectation and convention – none of which would be any problem to the tempestuous thrower – when taking out the first leg of the entire tournament with a tonne-plus finish. In the end, though, he was overrun by a powerful and speeding Merk – Arno Merk, that is.
The latest manifestation of the upsurge in German Darts. Taking his place in the lineup along with Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler and Max Hopp and Ricardo Pietrescu. It’s particularly encouraging to see Hopp bouncing back towards the upper echelons of the game. It’s not all that long ago since he was thought to be in the same airspace in the likes of Nathan Aspinall, Luke Humphries and Josh Rock.
Until, like many have before him and plenty will after, for a variety of reasons he slipped down the rankings to such an extent that he recently confirmed he will return to the PDC Q-School in January with the aim of regaining his tour card. You’d just hope for his sake that he doesn’t encounter his fast sounding compatriot Mr Merk.
His resilience, power-scoring and ability to pound the treble 20 segment meant that for all Huybrechts’ undoubtable durability, the Merk eased in the accelerator and left his obdurate opponent for dust. For all that ,the former still possesses far too much ability – and brings far too much entertainment value – to be languishing at No. 51 in the world. You’d hope, if he wants to, that he can make his way back up the rankings a la James Wade who now resides well within the top ten.
If you want to talk about resilience in darting circles, mind you, look no farther than the duo who occupied the second fixture on the opening night’s card. Firstly because, to the best of this writer’s knowledge, along with Detta Headman, Lisa Ashton was one of the first trailblazers to put Ladies Darts on the map. Here, though, it was a case of the same old story for The Rose Of Lancashire.
In that she created a plethora of chances for herself but was unable to strike with nearly enough of them. Mind you, one couldn’t but be impressed by the tenacity and determination of her opponent in the opposite corner. None other than 2023 Sid Waddell Trophy captor Michael Smith.
In fairness to the St Helen’s man, though 20 years his opponent’s junior, the adversity he has overcome to make it back to the Ally Pally this year after a season blighted by Dartitus and other injuries which saw him drop down to 30 in the pecking order. However, in the final couple of events prior to the big to the big one, the affable Smith – who is every bit as big a fan of Aberdeen Angus cattle as is legendary rugby referee Nigel Owens, and this writer – began to show flickers of the form which underpins the fact that his true ranking in the sport is eons superior to what it currently says on paper.
There’s absolutely no doubting Luke Littler’s current positioning in the sport and though the impression was the Warrington lad never had to exceed second gear to negotiate a way past the always admirable Darius Labenauskis. But the question remains, if he was that efficient without being at full throttle, if he does put the boot down, will anybody be able to stop him?
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