VAN DEN BERGH FELT ‘SHAME’ AFTER SNUBBING MEDIA IN WORLD CUP DEFEAT
19/06/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH felt a sense of “shame” after Belgium’s shock opening World Cup defeat.
The Dreammaker endured a nightmare start to the tournament in Frankfurt, averaging just 65 in Belgium’s surprise 4-2 loss to Hong Kong in their opening Group B clash.
World No38 Van den Bergh declined to speak to Belgian broadcaster VTM after the match, leaving partner Mike De Decker to front up for media duties alone.
Former pro Vincent van der Voort believes the decision showed just how badly the result had impacted Van den Bergh.
He said on the Darts Draait Door Podcast: “That tells you how deeply it affected Dimitri.
“There’s also a certain amount of shame involved. I’ve experienced that myself.”
Van der Voort admitted he could relate to Van den Bergh’s situation, recalling a match against Kim Huybrechts at the Grand Slam of Darts while struggling with severe back pain.
He added: “I had so much pain in my back. After three legs, I don’t think I’d hit a single treble.
“You feel embarrassed. Everybody is watching and you’re thinking, ‘This can’t be happening. This is so bad.’
“You feel it yourself as well.
“So, I can understand why he didn’t want to speak to the cameras afterwards and pretend everything was fine.”
Two-time major winner Van den Bergh and De Decker eventually survived the group stage before crashing out 8-7 to Northern Ireland in the second round.
However, Van der Voort was stunned by how quickly Van den Bergh appeared to recover from his disappointing display.
He continued: “It is remarkable.
“Not even 15 or 16 hours later he’s back on stage dancing as if nothing happened.
“He seemed to process it very quickly.
“Dimitri is a positive lad by nature. So he recovers faster than, for example, our Barney. That’s just how it is.
“He must have done something in those 15 hours because there was a huge improvement afterward.”
The former UK Open finalist believes both players can take encouragement from their displays after narrowly missing out on a place in the quarter-final of the major event.
He said: “What they have seen, though, is that they can still make strong countries work very hard for a result. The level is there.
“It’s just not consistent yet. Now it’s simply a matter of working hard to get back to their best. That doesn’t happen in one tournament.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
