DE DECKER REVEALS SECRET BEHIND FORM RESURGENCE

MIKE DE DECKER believes a simple equipment change could be the key to reviving his form on the big stage.

The Belgian ended a four-month wait for a European Tour victory with an impressive display at the Slovak Open.

The Real Deal brushed aside William O’Connor 6-2 while averaging more than 107.

World No21 De Decker edged past Ryan Joyce 6-5 thanks to a superb 104 checkout in a deciding leg before bowing out to eventual champion Wessel Nijman in the quarter-final.

The former World Grand Prix champion believes a switch to shorter points on his darts has played a major role in his recent upturn.

Speaking after his win over O’Connor, he said: “Well, before the World Cup, I changed to shorter points.

“At the World Cup, it worked, and now it worked again, so I’ll definitely stick with these points.

“It felt good knowing that, I think in the second or third leg, when Willy went 180 and started getting into his flow, I wasn’t panicking and I was still playing well.

“So yeah, it feels really good, finally, after all this time, to play well again on stage.

“I just had a 107 average, so something must be working now.

“And I’ll put it down to the points because I switched to them a couple of weeks ago, and now I’m playing well.

“I played well on the ProTour — not consistently enough, but I played well.

“Now I’ve played well again, so I’ll stick with the points for now.

“Hopefully I do this again for the rest of the year.

“My ears have been clipped, so hopefully from now on we can go back to the Mike from 2024.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.