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Team Belgium went out in the quarterfinals against an unleashed Australia, which sold Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh – until then unbeaten in doubles – a 4-0 tie. Damon Heta and Simon Withlock would also go on to beat England and Wales on their way to their first-ever world darts title.
“I really like doing those doubles”, Huybrechts had said beforehand, as a hint towards the organization by the PDC. “I am even stronger at it than in singles. Unfortunately, we do it far too little due to the busy calendar, and at the World Cup only with a tie. I prefer a format with only couples matches, then you will see something.”
© Kais Bodensieck/PDC Europe
During and after the World Cup, ‘The Hurricane’ came up with another comment. He thinks there are too many tournaments taking place in Germany, such as the World Cup in Frankfurt this year (and ten times out of twelve editions so far).
“They don’t deserve a major. It’s not just about the crowd, just more tournaments in different countries in Europe. For example Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Gibraltar, Spain, France and Finland. Then you are PDC Europe,” said Huybrechts in a tweet, which he removed and then nuanced.
“I should have said it differently,” said the Kempenaar. “The public can be hostile and that’s not fun, but I think we should spread tournaments more across Europe. Don’t let the majority continue in Germany… They have a lot of darts fans there, but the advantages for German darts players compared to others are getting too big.”
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This advantage is partly due to the fact that German darts players can play more local qualifiers for tournaments, such as those of the European Tour (7 out of 13 are played in Germany), and that they also have to travel less. There are also four Player Championships that take place in Germany, the rest take place in England.
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