On December 15, the World Darts Championship will begin at the Alexandra Palace. The field of participants consists of 96 players, including four Belgian participants. Never before have so many Belgians participated in the same edition of the World Darts Championship.
Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts are the two Belgians who have secured seeded status for the World Darts Championship. Mikede Decker and Mario Vandenbogaerde qualified through the Pro Tour.
Mario Vandenbogaerde
Mario Vandenbogaerde managed to ensure his debut at both the World Darts Championship and the Players Championship Finals with a solid season on the Pro Tour. In Minehead, he managed to beat compatriot Mike de Decker in the first round. Vandenbogaerde needs a victory in the Alexandra Palace to be sure of retaining his Tour Card. If he loses his first match, he is dependent on the results of other players. In his first match he will face Thibault Tricole, the first Frenchman ever to qualify for the World Darts Championship.
Mike de Decker
Mike de Decker reached his first ranking final at Players Championship 11. De Decker also reached two semifinals this year on the Pro Tour. With these results, he managed to force his debut for the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix, however, he lost to Joe Cullen in the first round at both tournaments. At the Hungarian Darts Open in September, De Decker reached his first-quarter final on the Euro Tour. De Decker will play in the first round against German Dragutin Horvat.
Kim Huybrechts (31)
Kim Huybrechts managed to beat Peter Wright at the last edition of the World Darts Championship and reached the last 16, where he lost 4-0 to Dimitri van den Bergh. This season, he and Van den Bergh reached the semifinals of the World Cup of Darts. In addition, Huybrechts managed to secure his first ranking title since 2015 at the third Players Championship of the year. Recently, Huybrechts also showed good form when he eliminated Gerwyn Price in the second round of the Players Championship Finals.
Dimitri van den Bergh(15)
In early 2023 Dimitri van den Bergh reached the semifinals at the World Darts Championship, the UK Open and the World Cup of Darts. Since then, the former World Matchplay champion has shown erratic form at both televised tournaments and on the Pro Tour. Van den Bergh does, however, have a relatively good record at the World Darts Championship, with the semifinal at the previous edition and quarterfinal finishes in 2020 and 2018.
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