World No. 38 Kim Huybrechts was very nearly the story of the weekend at the Czech Darts Open.
The Belgian only made it into the European Tour event after Rob Cross dropped out due to illness and The Hurricane took his opportunity with both hands.
The 38-year-old made it all the way through to the final, defeating Luke Woodhouse, Pavel Drtil, Jermaine Wattimena, and Niels Zonneveld, before being swept aside by World No. 1 Luke Humphries.
Humphries was relentless against the Belgian and the gulf in quality between the two was evident.
Huybrechts needs another year before he’s on Luke Humphries level
Huybrechts was defiant in defeat and was determined to take the positives from his weekend’s display.
The Belgian No. 3 claimed he was not ready for Humphries’ talents but was determined to get there.
Speaking to PDC TV, The Hurricane said: “I’m happy to reach another final. I wasn’t even in this event originally. I lost in qualification and now I’m in the final!”
“This game [against Luke] came too early for me. Last week I was struggling to make the World Championship, so to be in a final against the world number one, it was always going to be tough.
“Give me another year or 18 months – when I have this flow in me, then I will give him a game!”
Huybrechts confirmed his place at the World Championships in December with his exploits in Prague.
Huybrechts run to the final is the beauty of darts
Huybrechts moving from tournament outsider to finalist in Prague is one of the key reasons the sport is so captivating.
Tournament play is a leveller in the sport and anyone can beat anyone on their day, which was proved at the World Grand Prix with Mike De Decker’s astonishing win.
The sport can always throw up surprises, despite Humphries’ dominance at the top of the PDC rankings, and the final few tournaments of 2024 remain up for grabs.