Ronny Huybrechts

Ronny Huybrechts
Personal information
Nickname	"The Rebel"
Born	(1965-07-20) 20 July 1965 Antwerp, Belgium
Home town	Antwerp, Belgium
Darts information
Playing darts since	1985
Darts	22g Loxley
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1992–1997, 2005–2012
PDC	2013–
Current world ranking	86 (21 April 2024)
WDF major events – best performances
World Masters	Last 128: 2005
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 32: 2015, 2016
World Matchplay	Last 32: 2013
World Grand Prix	Last 32: 2017
UK Open	Last 32: 2014
Grand Slam	Last 16: 2013
European Ch'ship	Semi Final: 2013
PC Finals	Last 64: 2016, 2017
Other tournament wins
Belgium Masters 2010 Belgium National Championships 2009, 2010, 2011 Belgium Open Pairs 2013, 2014 Dortmund Open 2008 Open West-Vlaanderen 2011 Spring Cup 2010
Other achievements
2015 Breaks into the top 32 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time

Ronny Huybrechts (born 20 July 1965) is a Belgian professional darts player.

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.

2020-present

He lost his tourcard at the end of the 2019 season. He entered 2020 Q-school but was unable to secure a new tourcard. Nevertheless, Huybrechts qualified for both the Belgian and German Darts Championships where he lost in the second and first rounds respectively.

He entered 2021 and 2022 Q-school in a new bid to earn a tour card, but was again unsuccessful on both occasions. He spent the 2021 season competing on the PDC European Challenge tour.

During 2023 Q-school he was finally able to regain a two-year tour card.

World Championship results

PDC

• 2014: First round (lost to Kim Huybrechts 1–3)
• 2015: Second round (lost to Peter Wright 1–4)
• 2016: Second round (lost to Peter Wright 0–4)
• 2017: First round (lost to James Wade 0–3)
• 2018: First round (lost to Daryl Gurney 1–3)

Career finals

PDC team finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team	Teammate	Opponents in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2013	World Cup of Darts	Belgium	Kim Huybrechts	England – Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis	1–3 (m)

Career statistics

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Prel.

DNQ

DNP

NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Prel.) Preliminary round; (DNQ) Did not qualify; (DNP) Did not participate; (NH) Not held

Performance timeline

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
PDC Ranked televised events
PDC World Championship	Non-PDC								DNQ	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	DNQ
UK Open	DNQ								3R	4R	2R	3R	3R	DNQ	3R	DNQ			2R
World Matchplay	Non-PDC								1R	DNQ
World Grand Prix	Non-PDC								DNQ				1R	DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts	Not held		DNQ						2R	RR	DNQ
European Championship	Not held			Non-PDC					SF	2R	DNQ		1R	DNQ
Players Championship Finals	Not held				Non-PDC				DNQ			1R	1R	DNQ
PDC Non-ranked televised events
World Cup of Darts	Not held					DNP	NH	DNP	F	QF	SF	SF	SF	DNP
BDO Ranked televised events
World Masters	1R	Prel.	DNP	1R	2R	1R	DNP		No longer a BDO Player
Career statistics
Year-end ranking	Non-PDC							140	45	36	40	44	41	52	81	158	-	-

PDC European Tour

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
2012	ADO DNP	GDC DNQ	EDO 2R	GDM DNP	DDM 1R
2013	UKM DNQ	EDT 1R	EDO 1R	ADO 1R	GDT 1R	GDC 1R	GDM 1R	DDM 2R
2014	GDC DNQ	DDM 2R	GDM 1R	ADO DNQ	GDT 1R	EDO 1R	EDG DNP	EDT 2R
2015	GDC 2R	GDT 1R	GDM 2R	DDM DNQ	IDO DNQ	EDO DNQ	EDT DNQ	EDM 2R	EDG DNQ
2016	DDM DNQ	GDM 2R	GDT DNQ	EDM DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDO DNQ	IDO 2R	EDT 1R	EDG 1R	GDC DNQ
2017	GDC DNQ	GDM 1R	GDO 2R	EDG DNQ	GDT 1R	EDM DNQ	ADO 2R	EDO DNQ	DDM 1R	GDG 3R	IDO 3R	EDT DNQ
2018	EDO DNQ	GDG DNQ	GDO 1R	ADO 1R	EDG DNQ	DDM DNQ	GDT DNQ	DDO DNQ	EDM 1R	GDC DNQ	DDC DNQ	IDO DNQ	EDT DNQ
2019	EDO DNQ	GDC DNQ	GDG DNQ	GDO DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDG DNQ	DDM DNQ	DDO DNQ	CDO DNQ	ADC DNQ	EDM DNQ	IDO DNQ	GDT DNQ
2020	BDC 2R	GDC 1R	EDG DNQ	IDO DNQ
2021	HDT DNQ	GDT DNQ
2022	IDO DNQ	GDC DNP	GDG DNP	ADO DNQ	EDO DNQ	CDO DNQ	EDG DNQ	DDC DNQ	EDM DNQ	HDT DNP	GDO DNQ	BDO DNQ	GDT DNP
2023	BSD DNQ	EDO DNQ	IDO DNQ	GDG DNQ	ADO DNQ	DDC DNQ	BDO DNQ	CDO DNQ	EDG DNQ	EDM	GDO	HDT	GDC

External links

• Player profile on Ronny Huybrechts from Dartsdatabase