"Ask him he'll tell you but I won't": Dirk van Duijvenbode coy on post match words with Rob Cross

After a stunning comeback from 6–2 down to defeat Rob Cross at the 2025 World Matchplay, Dirk van Duijvenbode delivered an emotional and candid post-match interview including to DartsNews that laid bare the physical and mental battles he’s faced over the past year.

The Dutchman spoke with honesty, humour, and perspective as he assessed his performance and long road back from serious injury as well as surrounding his words with Rob Cross post match that he refused to disclose.

Van Duijvenbode was in defiant mood when asked how he was feeling after his dramatic victory. “I feel great,” he said with a grin. “Only great?” the interviewer pushed. “Is there more than great? I said great—is there more than that?”

The turning point, many felt, was a brilliant 137 checkout that rattled his opponent and brought Van Duijvenbode level.

“Maybe for the end game, yeah,” he said. “Coming from 6–2 down to 7–7, I think the game had already changed before the 137. But that shot gave him some bad confidence, I think. After that, he hit just one treble in five throws or something.”

At the conclusion of the match, there was a notable exchange between Van Duijvenbode and Cross—one that raised a few eyebrows.

“I just asked Rob something,” Van Duijvenbode said remaining tight lipped on it: “I won’t [elaborate]. I’m not like that. Ask him—he’ll tell you. But I won’t.”

Recent flashes of form on the European Tour have raised questions about whether van Duijvenbode could sustain that level over the course of a full major. But he insisted it’s not quite a story of regained confidence yet.

“Confidence might not be the word,” he explained. “If you're coming from very low confidence, then just level confidence is good to start with. I was in bad confidence. These games brought me up to a content level but not yet really confident.”

But while he is pleased to be through, he said he needs more with other parts of his ranking not secure for instance the Grand Slam.

“At this point, I’ve just defended what I did two years ago,” he noted. “If I win the next game, that’s £15k extra. But I’m not qualified for the Grand Slam, where I’m defending third place, that’s £7,500. So right now, I’m just defending. And I’m down. I need to go up. Or at least stay equal. But I want to go up, of course.”

After shoulder injury hell, Van Duijvenbode is now back but he opened up about the true extent of the injury nightmare and the emotional trauma it left him in.

“You guys don’t know, but the injury was really bad. When I saw it, I had tears in my eyes it was really bad. Normally, you can’t see an injury. But my injury pushed my shoulder blade back about 10 centimetres.”

Despite the severity, he only narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Matchplay in 2024 showing that he still had. away back.

“I was 17th on the Order of Merit, probably 20th on the Pro Tour. I was nearby. But then you think—am I going to get to come here again? You don’t know, man.”

That made this year’s return all the more special. “You come back here, face a hard opponent like Rob Cross—and you beat him.”

Van Duijvenbode was asked how proud he was of the mental resilience he’d shown to return to this level. He as ever wants more and isn't fully there in terms of where he wants to be.

“I’m only proud I’ve lived,” he said. “When I won a Pro Tour again, that felt like I was back. That’s really what says I’m back. Before that, I wouldn’t say I’m not proud, but that’s my main goal.”

He acknowledged that the game is constantly evolving and that parts of his own game are improving—but regaining peak confidence is no small task.

“It’s very hard to regain confidence when you’ve gone from peak confidence to where I am now. It’s a long journey.”

The mental strain of his injury wasn’t just physical—it led to moments of serious doubt about his place in the sport.

“Of course, in the beginning, I thought I might not make it back,” he admitted. “At first, I felt like I was going to lose my Tour card. I had a very bad injury. But even with it, I could still play at a 93–95 average. Sometimes I could even peak at 100. And I thought, ‘If I can do this while injured...’ That gave me some confidence.”

As for where his A-game is now, van Duijvenbode believes it's still developing.

“I think I’m getting more consistent. But the A-game also depends on confidence and confidence comes from winning titles, doing well all the time. Three years ago, I was winning all my boards. I probably won 80–90% of them on the floor. I was making Sundays on the European Tour almost every time. If you come from that, it’s very hard to regain that confidence. It’s not about runs, it’s about consistency. Or very good results. I’m not far off. I’m doing well.”