The 17th and 18th Players Championships will be held in Hildesheim this weekend. Due to the numerous cancellations of Tour Card holders such as Gary Anderson, Michael Smith, Johnny Clayton, Michael van Gerwen and Ryan Searle, the stadium has been supplemented with the best players from the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.
One of the players who will be allowed to participate in the upcoming Players Championship tournaments is Switzerland’s Stefan Belmont, who therefore does not have a PDC Tour card.
“The experience is worth its weight in gold to me,” said Belmont, who has competed in this competition several times. “It’s another step forward, and a step in the right direction. When you play with professionals, you can’t help but learn.” In the past, Pro Tour tournaments, at dartsnews.de. “I have now competed three times, six tournaments. It is really gold. These participations help us a lot.”
Players Championship tournaments aren’t the only Pro Tour events that “Belli” plays in the PDC. This year alone, the Swiss have qualified for two PDC European Tour Championships. At the Belgian Darts Open, he made Swiss darts history by becoming the first Swiss ever to reach the second round of a European Tour tournament.
“The reactions after the first victory against Robert Owen were fantastic. It was also a great satisfaction to me that I finally succeeded”, Belmont recalls this victory.
During the World Cup of Darts, Bailey again climbed to the podium in the PDC team, but was less fortunate after that. He and his team mate Marcel and Ben were already eliminated in the group stage.
“I was disappointed in myself,” he analyzes. “I couldn’t perform and didn’t come close to my normal level. And that bothered me the most. Even after that.”
“Maybe – subconsciously – I definitely wanted to help Marcel because he was there the first time. I was there the second time. I’ve been through everything at once and I know how it goes. I didn’t feel any pressure, but I think subconsciously it was there. I guess that’s why I haven’t been able to play my best games. From this point of view, I am disappointed.”
Immediately after the World Cup of Darts, Belmont was again on the podium. He has been invited to the MODUS Super Series. “The timing was really perfect,” Belmont says. “I was able to fly straight to Portsmouth after the World Cup of Darts. I didn’t have time to think about what had happened and what I had done wrong.”
“I’ve traveled, arrived, unpacked and the next day it was the first tournament, Monday. I think it helped me a lot, I don’t think about it, there are no negative elements in my head. Just play, play, play and bring the positivity.”
Finally, the Swiss spoke about his goals. “Most things are done now. I was thrilled to qualify for two podium matches; in Wiessee and in Prague. I’ve played all the qualifiers now. Now there are a few more goals in Switzerland: defend the Swiss championship, then defend its title.” There are still some tournaments in SDC and what I definitely want to play is the Challenge Tour. And when that’s over, Q-School is the next thing I’ll start.”
