Kim Huybrechts and Ritchie Edhouse played against each other in the first round of the Dutch Darts Championship. The crowd didn’t behave like they should with a lot of whistling. The English player was furious with the crowd and he clearly showed so right after the match. But Kim Huybrechts was angry with his opponent which resulted in this incident.
Not Huybrechts trying to blame Edhouse for the defeat 😂
Dart players man. pic.twitter.com/hqnTFXXGPj
— DartsAnonymous (@anonymous_darts) May 23, 2025
The Dutch crowd also played a role in this, and not in a positive way. Someone in the audience was constantly whistling, much to the annoyance of all the players. This didn’t just happen during this match, but also in other games where a crowd favorite was playing.
Ritchie Edhouse was furious about the crowd’s behavior, and Kim Huybrechts was far from pleased as well. These were the ingredients for the disagreement that followed on stage between the two players.
VIDEO: This Is What Happened Backstage Between Van Gerwen/Van Barneveld & Huybrechts
The Belgian refused to shake his opponent’s hand and left the stage. It was reminiscent of a moment “The Hurricane” experienced back in 2017 during a match against the now-retired Phil Taylor. At the 2017 PDC World Championship, Huybrechts narrowly lost to “The Power” in a tense match. After the game, he refused to shake Taylor’s hand, which sparked controversy in the darts world. According to Huybrechts, there had been unsportsmanlike behavior from Taylor before and during the match, which explained his reaction. Although he later admitted that it would have been better to remain professional, it did show his emotional involvement.
For Kim Huybrechts, this was a return to the big stage. He once belonged to the top tier of the PDC, but has since dropped to 48th in the world rankings. He can’t let go of darts, but nowadays he approaches it differently. He now runs his own successful darts shop, named Hurricane, located in Nijlen. He operates the store together with his wife Dana Verhaegen, who is still active as an experienced darts player herself.