Jerry Hendriks has revealed the deep emotional turmoil behind his return to the PDC stage in Rosmalen, where he faced Raymond van Barneveld shortly after the passing of his mother. The former World Championship participant, now primarily known as a darts analyst, had promised his late mother he would compete in the home Euro Tour event, a vow that made the experience both poignant and overwhelming.
“I found it very intense because I had promised her,” Hendriks said on the podcast Darts Draait Door. Despite the grief, he and his father consciously chose to cherish every moment. “Together with my father, I consciously tried to take in every moment, enjoy it, and still make something beautiful out of it,” he explained. “Because, you know, I am a bon vivant.”
The tournament marked Hendriks’ first PDC ProTour appearance in six years, a return that brought back memories of his iconic walk-on at the 2017 World Championship, where his high-energy entrance electrified Alexandra Palace before his eventual defeat to Peter Wright. In Rosmalen, the familiar showman emerged once again, but the circumstances were starkly different. “The moment that walk-on kicked in, I just wanted to try to enjoy it. And to deliver my best,” he said.
Despite admitting he was far from match-fit — “I wasn't in shape. I hadn't trained much, if at all, so you can't really expect to put in a top performance” — Hendriks pushed Van Barneveld to the limit. The five-time world champion needed eleven legs to edge out his compatriot, winning 6-5. Vincent van der Voort, who watched the clash closely, saw the emotional rollercoaster unfold. “During the announcement, you first saw the emotional Jerry, and then the baseline kicks in and the crazy Jerry comes out again,” Van der Voort observed.
Van der Voort believes this may not be the last we see of Hendriks on the oche. With several qualifiers on Dutch soil, including the Euro Tour Maastricht and the World Championship Qualifier, he insists Hendriks remains a formidable contender. “Jerry is always a candidate to be reckoned with,” Van der Voort concluded.
