"Belgians hate the Dutch tremendously" - Dirk van Duijvenbode on Dutch v Belgian rivalry amid Flanders Darts Trophy

Dirk van Duijvenbode reached the quarterfinals of the Flanders Darts Trophy last weekend. Aubergenius, who beat Luke Littler in the previous round, went down 6-4 to Ricardo Pietreczko.

Van Duijvenbode is no longer in the top 16 of the Order of Merit partly due to injury and therefore has to be in action on the European Tour as early as Friday. "I find that quite unfortunate, especially when you see which players are now in that top 16, there are some names among them that are certainly not better than me. Who are they? I'd rather not name names," Van Duijvenbode said to the 'Double Top' podcast.

"For me, this is actually a lost year anyway. I had a very bad spring and also didn't manage to qualify for the World Matchplay. Every TV tournament I qualify for this year is a bonus. In that respect I am very happy that I qualified for the World Series of Darts Finals. It is not a ranking tournament, but it is a tournament in my own country and that is very important for my sponsors and myself. It's a tournament I'm looking forward to very hard and am keen on a good performance."

Van Duijvenbode also talked briefly about his love-hate relationship with Belgian reporter Rudy Lanssens of VTM 2. "Rudy is quite a good guy, but he always tries to make you say certain things," Van Duijvenbode laughed.

"What many people don't know is that Belgians hate the Dutch immensely. I know enough Belgians and know what I'm talking about. Rudy then tries to get you to say arrogant statements about Belgians, but that doesn't work with me."