Ronny Huybrechts

Career

Ronny and his brother Kim Huybrechts became the first brothers to play in the World Cup of Darts in February 2013 and advanced from Group H courtesy of a 5–0 win over Hungary. They then pulled off a shock by defeating the Australian pairing of Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson, who were the runners up in the event last year, 5–1 with a combined average of 101.08 and then beat Croatia in the quarter-finals, with Ronny defeating Robert Marijanović 4–1 in his singles match. They required a doubles match to see off Finland in the semi-finals which they won 4–0 with a 105.47 average, the highest in the three-year history of the event, to reach the final and a meeting with the English pair of Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis. Ronny lost both of his singles matches (0–4 to Taylor and 2–4 to Lewis) meaning Kim had to beat Taylor to force a doubles match to decide the title, but he lost 1–4. The brothers dedicated their run in the tournament to their late father, Ludo, who died in December 2012.

Huybrechts beat the likes of Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall at the first Players Championship of 2013 to face Kim in the semi-finals, their first meeting in a PDC event. Ronny produced a superb performance to defeat him 6–1 with an average of almost 108 to reach his first PDC final, where he was this time the victim of world class darts as Robert Thornton averaged 111 in a 6–0 whitewash of Huybrechts. Huybrechts faced Phil Taylor in the third round of the UK Open and was beaten 9–0. He qualified for the European Championship through the European Order of Merit and beat Stuart Kellett 6–3 in the first round. Huybrechts then pulled off the result of his career to date when he faced Taylor in the second round. He defeated the 16-time world champion 10–5 and then played Thornton in Huybrechts' first major PDC quarter-final. Huybrechts edged past the Scotsman 10–9 having never been behind in the match, but saw his run end in the semi-finals when he lost 11–7 to Simon Whitlock. Huybrechts' run to the World Cup final saw him qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts where he beat 2012 BDO World Champion Christian Kist 5–3 in his opening group game. He then fought from 3–1 behind against two-time world champion Adrian Lewis to triumph 5–3 and qualify from his group with one game to spare. Huybrechts completed a hat-trick of group game wins by seeing off Richie George 5–3 and he played his brother Kim in the last 16, which saw them become the first brothers to play a televised darts match with Ronny losing 10–5.

2014 season

Huybrechts reached his first World Championship through the ProTour Order of Merit and was incredibly drawn to face Kim again. Ronny won the first set and then missed a total of five darts to take the second. In the deciding leg of the third set he missed a single 18 to set up a double, before losing all three legs in the next set to be beaten 3–1. After the event concluded he was ranked world number 41. At the UK Open, Huybrechts saw off Simon Whitlock 9–6 in the third round and then led Adrian Lewis 7–3, but went on to lose in a deciding leg 9–8. Ronny and Kim comfortably progressed to the quarter-finals of the World Cup of Darts where they faced the Dutch number two seeds Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld. Kim produced a superb display to defeat Van Gerwen 4–2, but Ronny then lost 4–2 to Van Barneveld meaning the tie went into a deciding doubles match which the brothers lost 4–0. A week later he beat Van Gerwen and Dean Winstanley in deciding legs at the 11th Players Championship to play in his only semi-final of 2014, where he was beaten 6–4 by Robert Thornton. Huybrechts threatened another run at the European Championship when he defeated James Wade in the first round 6–4, but he then lost 10–7 to Mervyn King. In the Grand Slam he went into his final group match against Terry Jenkins knowing a win would see him through to the last 16, but he was beaten 5–1.

2015 season

Huybrechts beat Andy Smith 3–0 at the 2015 World Championship, before losing 4–1 against Peter Wright in round two. He was knocked out in the second round of the UK Open 5–3 against Lee Evans and could not qualify for another PDC major this year. In the quarter-finals of the World Cup Ronny took out an 86 finish on the bull in a deciding doubles match to defeat Australia's Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson. In the semis, Ronny lost 4–3 to Phil Taylor and Kim lost 4–2 to Adrian Lewis which saw Belgium exit the tournament. Individually, Huybrechts' best run of 2015 came at the 16th Players Championship after wins over Vincent van der Voort, Stephen Bunting and James Wade saw him reach the quarter-finals, where he lost 6–2 to Raymond van Barneveld.

2016 season

In the deciding set of his first round match with Dean Winstanley at the 2016 World Championship, Huybrechts completed a 164 checkout with Winstanley on 40 to break his throw and then took out a 104 finish in the next leg to win 3–2. He played Peter Wright in round two for the second year in a row and lost 4–0. A 9–7 loss to Terry Jenkins followed in the third round of the UK Open. Ronny and Kim knocked out Scotland's Gary Anderson and Robert Thorton 4–2 in a doubles match to advance to the semi-finals of the World Cup. There, Ronny lost 4–1 to the Netherlands' Michael van Gerwen and Kim lost to 4–2 to Raymond van Barneveld to exit the tournament.

Huybrechts' first quarter-final in an individual event this season came at the 11th Players Championship and he was beaten 6–1 by Ian White. His first final in over three years came at the 18th event and he took a 3–0 lead over Simon Whitlock, but would miss two darts for the title as he lost 6–5. The result saw him placed 24th on the Players Championship Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals, but he was defeated 6–4 by Rowby-John Rodriguez in the first round.

2017 season

Huybrechts lost 3–0 to James Wade in the first round of the 2017 World Championship. At the fifth UK Open Qualifier he beat Gary Anderson, Terry Jenkins and Ian White all 6–5 in successive rounds and then threw the first nine-dart finish of his career during a 6–4 win over Darren Webster. Huybrechts reached the final by eliminating Michael Smith 6–5, but lost 6–3 to Simon Whitlock. Ronny briefly held the highest televised average of a Belgian player when he averaged 115.62 in the second round of the World Cup against Greece. However, a day later in the quarter-finals Kim averaged 121.97 against Singapore and the brothers went on to reach their third semi-final in a row, but were unable to win either of their singles matches against the Welsh team of Gerwyn Price and Mark Webster.

PDC