Huybrechts regaining winning feeling ahead of Amsterdam event

Kim Huybrechts (Chris Dean, PDC)

Kim Huybrechts is aiming to continue his revival at the Jack's World Series of Darts Finals this weekend.

The Belgian star was one of the four qualifiers for the Amsterdam event, which sees 24 stars competing from October 29-31 at AFAS Live.

He went on to reach one semi-final and a quarter-final in last week's Players Championship events, continuing a strong autumn which has seen him move back towards a spot in the world's top 32.

World Series of Darts Finals tickets

Huybrechts believes that he is now turning strong performances into results, which in turn is lifting his confidence at a key time of year.

"I'm preparing myself for the World Series and I'm happy to be there," Huybrechts told The Darts Show Podcast.

"By qualifying for that, it was a huge confidence boost - the next day ]I reached] a semi-final and I think that's very important for the mind that you get good games and results as well. That's what I got [last] week.

"I've been playing reasonably good the whole year, had some good averages but never could [get] the win, and you still have to win games to get money on the rankings and to climb the rankings.

"That was the problem for me, I couldn't win the games. [Last] week, it clicked a little bit for me, I was happy with my level and I was a bit lucky here and there that some people would miss doubles against me and I took my chances.

"I think that's the difference with what happened a couple of months ago; I played a good level as well but I couldn't win the games and now I won some games."

Huybrechts will take on Michael Smith in Friday's first round in Amsterdam, a week after the Englishman took victory in their Players Championship quarter-final in Barnsley.

"It's a good game," said Huybrechts. "Michael is a very good player, he should be in the top four in my opinion, [he's] one of the most natural players but I'm going to give him a good game and I think he knows that.

"We played each other on the last day [in Barnsley], in the quarter-finals - I had my my chances and didn't take them but I'm up for it and I'm definitely going to try and do better in the game on stage than we did on the ProTour."

Huybrechts had slipped out of the top 32 but has turned his career onto an upward trajectory during a solid year on the circuit, which also included qualification for the European Championship recently.

"I've lost three years to be honest," admits Huybrechts, a former Premier League star. "I was very down with the loss of my parents and it cost me three years to get over it.

"It's not only the personal and private life, you can also see it in the professional life.

"You can see on the rankings; I was top 16 for six consecutive years and dropped out, and I've still got the feeling that I should be there. That's going to be my goal.

"My aim for the rest of the year is the World Championship and to get a good result there - that's where you get the most part of your rankings - and not too much pressure on the rest of the tournaments.

"I'm getting my game where I want to but it's not there yet, so if I'm going to start thinking about results that will cost me my quality of play at the moment so I'm not going to do that."

The tournament will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, through the PDC's international broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.

Jack's World Series of Darts Finals
Schedule of Play
Friday October 29 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
First Round x8 

Kim Huybrechts v Michael Smith
Krzysztof Ratajski v Gabriel Clemens
Maik Kuivenhoven v John Henderson
James Wade v Mervyn King
Niels Zonneveld v Dave Chisnall
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Nathan Aspinall v Vincent van der Voort
Jose de Sousa v Danny Noppert

Saturday October 30 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Second Round x8

Madars Razma v Wade/King
Gary Anderson v Zonneveld/Chisnall
Jonny Clayton v Aspinall/Van der Voort
Dimitri Van den Bergh v De Sousa/Noppert
Fallon Sherrock v Ratajski/Clemens
Peter Wright v Huybrechts/Smith
Gerwyn Price v De Zwaan/Van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen v Kuivenhoven/Henderson

Sunday October 31
Afternoon Session (1245 local time, 1145 GMT)

Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Final