DIMI WILL DEFY THE BOOS AGAIN

By Phil Lanning

DIMITRI Van den Bergh will defy the boos again to be a big time winner and pay the bills. 

The World No.16 returns to Minehead this Friday as he bids to defend his UK Open crown, which is dubbed the FA Cup of darts. 

A year ago Van den Bergh, 30, was jeered and booed by fans as his slow and methodical style helped him win the final over Luke Humphries. 

Cool Hand said at the time: “He’s probably one of the toughest players to play. He’s incredibly slow and takes a long, long time to take his darts out. It was quite tough to follow the rhythm.

“The crowd were on his back. I tried to stop them from booing and whistling. But the crowd made their mind up.”

But bubbly Belgian Van den Bergh vows he would do it all again to take the trophy home. 

He revealed: “Last year, definitely, there were a few moments where the crowd was booing me or trying to get me out of my focus. 

“But that’s okay. They’re allowed to. Everybody has their own opinion. I’m not the one to tell them what to do.

“The only thing I know is that when I’m on that stage, the only one that’s going to be throwing the darts is me and I’ll be the only one that’s going to be paying my bills.

“So for me, it’s fine. I accept everybody’s opinion. It’s their choices. And, at that same time, when it’s a big moment, I’ll make my choice.

“It’s either for them to understand how big the moment is in my career and if they don’t like it, what I’m doing, that’s okay. It’s everybody’s choice.

“But I’ll just do whatever I do and be focused on what I need to get my best potential game out.”

Van den Bergh goes into the event in decent form despite a recent illness with a strong run to the semi-finals at The Masters.

However he opened up on feeling underestimated in the sport, adding: “Lately, I’ve been listening to a few podcasts and you just don’t hear your name too often, which I am surprised of because I was one of the best performers last year. I won a major, three semi-finals, a quarter-final.

“This year, I started off strong again with another semi-final in a major. So I just try to keep showing it to everybody.

“Over the last few years, there’s not many tournaments left where I haven’t been to the quarter-finals or better, so it would be nice to be a little bit more recognised

“I would like to win more, especially in majors. It would be nicer to have a couple of wins in a year in the season. Just to prove a point to myself. That’s, for me, the most important part.

“I want more out of the time and sacrifices that I do for the darts. It wouldn’t be bad to be recognised a lot more than I have in the past, but, if I’m not, then I’ll just keep trying to beat everybody under the radar.”

Double Major winner Van den Bergh also believes he’s entering a more mature stage in his career and ready to kick on for more titles. 

He added: “My life definitely has changed over the recent years. Obviously, I’m a dad now. I’m in my 30s, I have learned a lot in life. It is time to put all the years of experience, practice and the winnings to another level.

“It’s time to put it all together and step it up and that’s definitely always been my goal. I always wanted more.

“But, for some reason, it always has been a bit of a fight. But I don’t back down from a fight. I’m okay with that.

“There’s a whole lot more that I can achieve. It’s on us to work hard for it, grab it with both hands and be dedicated and try to make our dreams come true so I can provide for my family and protect my family.”