BELGIUM WORLD CUP HOPES DOUBTED AFTER KEY OMISSION

PAUL NICHOLSON says Belgium will suffer another World Cup group exit after leaving out their best player.

The former pro believes veteran Kim Huybrechts is currently the man to beat despite Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh being selected for this week’s tournament in Frankfurt.

Belgium are seeded sixth and face Hong Kong and Slovenia in Group B, but Nicholson is not convinced they will even make it to round two.

De Decker has failed to win a match on the European Tour this season, suffering eight consecutive second-round exits while reaching just one ProTour quarter-final all year.

Two-time major winner Van den Bergh has also struggled, failing to win a televised match at a ranking major since last year’s UK Open.

Nicholson believes both men have a huge point to prove in Germany.

He told the Love the Darts Podcast: “I think Mike De Decker has still got an awful lot to offer this sport and it might have to be a little bit further down the track.

“I’m one of Mike’s biggest fans. I think he’s got incredible technique.

“I think he’s really solid in mind. I just don’t think his game is cohesive at the minute, both psychologically and maybe with his equipment.

“It seems like ever since he moved to a new manufacturer, it just hasn’t been quite there for whatever reason.

“But I think the dynamic and the story over the last six months has been the best player in Belgium is not in the team.

“That’s Kim Huybrechts. He’s got the experience, he’s got the form, and you know he’s got the firepower and he doesn’t mind going toe to toe with people.

“I know that from personal experience, but he’s not ranked high enough to get in the team.

“So, it’s the responsibility of the Belgians to go up and say, this is why we’re ranked higher than that guy.

“We can put the shirt on and we can put something together, not just to reignite them individually, but they could work so well together in this tournament, that they could actually change their careers after this.

“They could do incredible things, but they’re going to have to do something that I believe that they won’t, and that’s top this group.

“I don’t think they win this group.”