Thibault Tricole will become the first Frenchman to feature at a PDC World Darts Championship, after the 2022 Lakeside Finalist came through the West Europe Qualifier to secure his debut at the Alexandra Palace.
The French Touch is in action in the opening match of Monday’s evening session in North London and is relishing making history when he walks onto the world stage.
“This is the first time that I will discover the legendary Ally Pally” said Tricole to Winmau. “I've dreamed of it for a long time and now I'm finally going to be there. I can’t wait!”
“You need pioneers in sport to develop it in your country. Becoming the first Frenchman, I am making a mark on the minds/ history of darts in France and I'm very proud of it.”
Thibault will experience 2 different World Championships in the space of 2 years, having lost out in a last set decider against Neil Duff in the Final of the 2022 WDF World Championship. The Winmau player is looking forward to the competitiveness of the PDC staging, after coming through a 97-player field in Kalkar Germany to qualify.
“The PDC World Championships are another dimension, everything is multiplied by 10: the public, arena, media coverage and prize money. I'm going to discover the Professional World Championships and I can’t wait!”
Tricole is steadying his expectations ahead of his first PDC World Championship, looking to take it a game at a time in front of a lively Ally Pally crowd, which will be rocking as usual in 2023/24.
“The difference is that if I continued to play at Lakeside this year, my goal was to reach the final again and win. At Ally Pally, it won't be the same, my goal is much less ambitious and it's just to win my first match. The difference in levels between the two World Championships is quite significant.”
Tricole defeated Wesley Plaisier 7-4 to book his place in the First Round at the Alexandra Palace, beating the likes of Jelle Klaasen, Brian Raman and Danny van Trijp in his successful run in Germany last month.
“What's funny is that I lost in the final of this same tournament last year in Spain against Jose Justicia, but it was a tournament reserved only for players from Southwest Europe. There I managed to win a tournament where potentially the level is even higher, and it was unexpected. I obviously wanted to go to the end but if I failed, I figured it would have been good training/ preparation for Lakeside.”
Thibault from Malguenac in France will face Belgian international Mario Vandenbogaerde in the 1st Round for the right to face 2018 World Champion Rob Cross in the Last 64. The pair are familiar with each other’s games heading into the Alexandra Palace and the duo are also good mates having played pairs tournaments a few years back.”
“There is no easy draw at the PDC World Championships and playing Mario isn't the best draw because I know him well. In the past we have clashed several times and we even played doubles together a few years ago.”
“I will have to ignore feelings and stay focused on my game. I train daily but with only a few days until the deadline, I have to work on my mental side more than my arm. My motivation is to try to play a former world champion in Rob Cross.”
Thibault was part of a maiden World Cup debut for France at the 2023 World Cup of Darts with partner Jacques Labre, reaching the Quarter Finals in Frankfurt after beating the likes of Northern Ireland and South Africa.
The Frenchman also claimed a Winmau Challenge Tour title during another high achieving year. Although he is less content than you may think.
“My year was up and down because I didn't always have time to train properly. I have a 15-month-old baby among other things to think about and because I had a series of defeats in Players Championships, I lost a little confidence in myself.”
“But since September, things have been better, and I managed to reverse the trend. I have to rely on experiences at the World Cup and MODUS even though the World Championship’s are still a different context.”
Everyone at Winmau wishes Thibault the best of luck as he continues his preparations for the 2024 Paddy Power World Darts Championship, with his opening match on Monday 18th December live on Sky Sports Darts at the Alexandra Palace.
By Harry Masterson
2024 Paddy Power World Darts Championship Draw:
Last 64:
Michael Smith (1) v Kevin Doets/ Stowe Buntz
Madars Razma (32) v Mike de Decker/ Dragutin Horvat
Ross Smith (16) v Niels Zonneveld/ Darren Webster
Chris Dobey (17) v William O’Connor/ Bhav Patel
Rob Cross (8) v Mario Vandenbogaerde/ Thibault Tricole
Jose de Sousa (25) v Ritchie Edhouse/ Jeffrey de Graaf
Jonny Clayton (9) v Steve Lennon/ Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski (24) v Jamie Hughes/ David Cameron
Peter Wright (4) v Jim Williams/ Norman Madhoo
Raymond van Barneveld (29) v Radek Szaganski/ Marko Kantele
James Wade (13) v Matt Campbell/ Lourence Ilagan
Andrew Gilding (20) v Christian Kist/ Luke Littler
Gerwyn Price (5) v Connor Scutt/ Krzysztof Kciuk
Brendan Dolan (28) v Micky Mansell/ Xiaochen Zong
Dirk van Duijvenbode (14) v Keegan Brown/ Boris Krcmar
Gary Anderson (21) v Simon Whitlock/ Paolo Nebrida
Michael van Gerwen (2) v Keane Barry/ Reynaldo Rivera
Kim Huybrechts (31) v Richard Veenstra/ Ben Robb
Dimitri van den Bergh (15) v Dylan Slevin/ Florian Hempel
Stephen Bunting (18) v Ryan Joyce/ Alex Spellman
Danny Noppert (7) v Scott Williams/ Haruki Muramatsu
Martin Schindler (26) v Jermaine Wattimena/ Fallon Sherrock MBE
Damon Heta (10) v Martin Lukeman/ Haupai Puha
Josh Rock (23) v Luke Woodhouse/ Berry van Peer
Luke Humphries (3) v Lee Evans/ Sandro Eric Sosing
Callan Rydz (30) v Ricardo Pietreczko/ Mikuru Suzuki
Joe Cullen (14) v Jules van Dongen/ Darren Penhall
Ryan Searle (19) v Ian White/ Tomoya Goto
Nathan Aspinall (6) v Ricky Evans/ Simon Adams
Daryl Gurney (27) v Steve Beaton/ Wessel Nijman
Dave Chisnall (11) v Cameron Menzies/ Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Gabriel Clemens (22) v Gian van Veen/ Man Lok Leung
