DE DECKER: “I CAN DO BIGGER THINGS”
26/02/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
MIKE DE DECKER believes his World Grand Prix win last year will propel him to lift more titles.
‘The Real Deal’ has endured a tough start to the year exiting the first round at the Players Championship 3 and 4.
World No.24 De Decker also suffered a first-round exit at the Winmau World Masters to James Wade and departed the World Championships in the second round.
However, De Decker had a brilliant 2024 where he won his first Major and ProTour tournament.
The talented Belgian has now signed with Mission Darts and hopes they elevate him to new heights in his career.
He told Mission: “Mission is a company on the rise. They have good ideas and they’re growing. It was a combination of things that made up my mind to join Mission. They’ve made a really good dart for me and they have been really supportive. I think it will be a really good partnership.”
De Decker initially earned his PDC Tour Card in 2016, but after failing to make an impact at the highest level, he lost it at the end of 2017.
Over the next two years, he struggled as he played on the Challenge Tour and competed in Q-School to regain his professional status.
By 2020, the 29-year-old won back his tour card.
Reflecting on his remarkable journey to becoming a TV title winner, De Decker said: “It’s been a lot of ups and downs. I got on tour in 2016 and then being young and I wasn’t grown up I thought we’re at the ProTour, we made it.
“That’s where the hard work starts. I didn’t do enough work and I lost my card in 2017 and being back on the Challenge Tour and Q-School opened my eyes that I needed to take it more professionally.
“In 2020 I got my card back and that’s when it kick started my career. Last year was my breakthrough. It opened my eyes that I needed to do more, live a bit healthier, waking up at a normal time instead of 2-3 in the afternoon so it definitely opened my eyes [losing his Tour Card].”
From then, De Decker’s career has taken an upwards trajectory as he reached his first final on the floor in 2023 and won two titles last year.
He said: “Being on a big major for the first time, it’s something new and you need to get used to the environment, the crowd and doing the interviews.
“I’m a bigger player now than I was in 2023. Not only in my game but with all the other stuff like interviews and pictures.
“I said to my friends the next step [after winning a ProTour] was going to be a European Tour. I kind of skipped that step.”
He added: “There are some highlights on YouTube that I still watch [of the World Grand Prix final] every two days. It was a funny tournament because before I said I just want to survive the first round. I kind of got tired of losing in the first round.
“Against Damon [Heta], we played a brilliant game and coming out of top I think settled me for the rest of the week. Six months before that I would’ve lost that game 100%. That game gave me the confidence I can do bigger things.
“I had the ability on the floor for the last four or five years, now I can finally bring it on the big stage and show the world what I can do.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
