DE DECKER ADMITS ‘I COULDN’T DO ANY MORE’ AFTER BELGIUM UPSET

MIKE DE DECKER admitted he “couldn’t do any more” after Belgium’s World Cup hopes were left hanging by a disastrous opening defeat.

The Real Deal and Dimitri Van den Bergh slumped to a shock 4-2 loss against Hong Kong in their opening Group B clash.

Former World Grand Prix champ De Decker produced a superb 106 average, but his partner struggled badly and averaged just 66 in the bout.

Belgium must now beat Slovenia and hope Hong Kong come unstuck if they are to avoid another group-stage exit.

De Decker was understandably frustrated after producing one of the best displays of the opening day.

He said: “I couldn’t do any more. With that average of Dimitri’s, it’s going to be tough.

“He also took it very poorly, which I already suspected and which is logical. Dimitri got away quickly, and that’s not his usual style.

“There’s little we can do about it. You win with two and you lose with two.

“I did manage to get through it after the second leg, with consistent 100 or 85 and a few 140s.

“I thought: ‘If I can keep this up, maybe I can pull Dimitri along.’ However, that wasn’t the case.”

De Decker was encouraged by his own performance after making recent changes to his equipment.

The 30-year-old has endured a tough season, suffering eight consecutive second-round exits on the European Tour and reaching just one ProTour quarter-final.

But De Decker believes there are finally signs of progress as he looks to kick on during the second half of the season.

He added: “If I look purely at myself, I can be quite satisfied. I’ve recently started playing with shorter points and my darts are just flying really well.

“The chances I got here – apart from that 90 – also went out. I really hoped to be able to catch Dimitri in my flow, but that didn’t happen. Too bad.”

Two-time major winner Van den Bergh cut a dejected figure afterwards and admitted the display reflected a difficult campaign.

He said: “This pretty much sums up my season.”

De Decker remains convinced his own fortunes are turning despite Belgium’s precarious position.

He continued: “I feel that things have been running much better with those shorter points for the past week or two.

“I feel much more consistency in training—and this was my first tournament with this—and look at my average.

“For example: Dimitri came to train last Tuesday and in the first fifteen minutes I threw almost ten 170s.

“Then things are looking good, right? I feel like I threw well here, so I’m not down in the dumps. Dimitri is, though, and that’s very understandable.

“I just feel that the results are coming for me. After a year and a half of searching and frustrations, it’s about time.

“I feel it. It just needs to come out more consistently; that inconsistency has to go.

“If all my ranking money from 2024 disappears, I’ll still be 36th or 37th on the world rankings.

“So, there’s nothing to worry about. This tournament is, despite the result, a boost for now.

“I have confidence in my throw; it just has to stop being one good match and one bad one.

“It certainly seems to be on an upward trend.”