DIMI RULES OUT FULL-TIME RETURN TO DARTS

DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH has ruled out a full-time return to professional darts. 

World No. 22 Van den Bergh insists his family and health now come first. 

‘The Dreammaker’ took an indefinite break from the sport in April to focus on his wellbeing after withdrawing from a Players Championship event just minutes before he was due to play Jose de Sousa. 

Two-time major winner Van den Bergh teamed up with Mike De Decker to make a winning return at the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, as Belgium beat Latvia 4-1 on Thursday night. 

But despite the victory, Dimi revealed he’s stepping away from the relentless grind of the PDC tour. 

He said: “There was so much attention on me. I had talk show requests from Belgium, Germany, England, and Holland.  

“Everyone wanted interviews and I just didn’t feel it was the right time to talk.  

“I didn’t have the right perception of the whole situation. It was all too much at the time. 

“I did what I had to do for myself. A few people close to me – including this guy here (De Decker) – had doubts.  

“He always wants me to do well, and I want the same for him. He kept asking, ‘Dimi, how are you?’ 

“I told him, ‘Mate, I made the right choice for myself.’ 

“I stepped back to take a few steps forward and tonight proves I’m heading in the right direction. 

“This is me being back managing my career because full-time professional is just not good for my family. 

“I’ve got a second kid coming next month, so me and my manager and my sponsors, we already know what’s going to go down. 

“It’s going to be professional in a different level, but I’m ready for it.” 

The 30-year-old has teamed up with Kim Huybrechts for the last seven World Cup campaigns where they made four semi-finals during this tenure.  

In 2023 the pair began the tournament not on speaking terms, ignoring one another during matches before patching things up to reach the last four while exhibiting a total change in behavior, fist-pumping and hugging. 

Ahead of the 2024 tournament, Van den Bergh confirmed an issue still existed between the pair. 

Asked about Huybrechts on Thursday, Van den Bergh shut down the topic and instead chose to focus on the “difference” competing with De Decker. 

He added: “About Kim, I’m just going to end that stuff with I’ve got no comment on this. Whatever everybody knows, leave it at that. It’s their choice. 

“On top of that me and Mike we have known each other already for a long time.  

“There’s a huge difference in this way of playing because this [gives me the] feeling I’ve got no pressure. 

“We’ve got no conflicts. There’s just me and him playing darts, loving what we do and supporting each other the whole year through and now we’re doing it together, which is a massive difference.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.