A visibly emotional Vicky Pruim struggled to find words after winning her first Women’s Series title. The Belgian-Swedish darts player experienced a long-awaited breakthrough on this circuit, making it clear in her reactions just how much this victory meant to her. After years of hard work, disappointment on crucial doubles, and near misses, everything finally fell into place this time.
“A little bit. It means a lot, a lot. Hard work, but it paid off,” said Pruim to the PDC post match. It was already clear throughout the rest of the weekend that the title had not come out of nowhere. Pruim showed her form was improving, although there were still moments of frustration. Missing doubles in particular had painfully cost her earlier on, including in her match against Karolina Ratajska, where she failed to reward herself. “I’m playing good, but sometimes I miss the doubles, like yesterday against Karolina. You can’t do that at this level, you’re not allowed to do that. But today, yeah, it all came together for once,” she continued.
With her victory, Vicky Pruim becomes only the 16th player ever to join the select group of winners on the PDC Women’s Series. People in the darts world have long said that Pruim is “always close.” She is known as a player who regularly makes deep runs in tournaments, but until now had always fallen just short when it really mattered. “It's going to give me a lot of confidence because I know I can beat whoever, but it’s all about doing it right there and then. And when you have the likes of Beau, it’s a little bit hard. I know I can do it, but it has to come together at some point,” she said.
The victory comes at a crucial point in the season. With the Women’s Series serving as an important benchmark on the road to major tournaments, Pruim has taken a huge step toward qualification for Blackpool, where the Women’s World Matchplay is held. However, the job is not completely finished yet. In the upcoming tournaments in Wigan, she will still need to defend and strengthen her position. Despite that pressure, Pruim’s approach remains remarkably calm. “I’ll just go like I usually do and see how it goes. I’ll do my best and hopefully I’ll get there. I really hope I can get there.”
For Vicky Pruim, this first PDC Women’s Series title is more than just another trophy for the cabinet. It is proof that she can win at the highest level, not just compete. “I’ve been scoring really well lately, and it’s just been the doubles. I said if I can get both parts to work together and do it at the right time, I can be dangerous. And it’s come together today.”
