DESTINY FOR DE DECKER! 🏆🇧🇪 MIKE DE DECKER WINS THE WORLD GRAND PRIX! The Belgian produces the performance of his life to defeat Luke Humphries 6-4 in one of the best double-start finals of all-time! 📺 bit.ly/WGP24Live #WGPDarts | Final
Erik Clarys believes De Decker's World Grand Prix win "might be the changing of the guard" at the top of Belgian darts
PDCTuesday, 15 October 2024 at 11:00
Mike De Decker won the 2024 World Grand Prix last weekend. This makes the 28-year-old, the second Belgian after Dimitri Van den Bergh to succeed in winning a PDC major. And in the opinion of former Belgian number one Erik Clarys, he won't be the last either.
Clarys, himself a former major winner at the BDO, was impressed with Decker's performance. "This is huge. You can't underestimate this. This is a boost for Belgian darts and a milestone for Mike," Clarys told Sporza.
De Decker moved up to 25th in the world rankings thanks to this final victory. "His goal was to get past Kim Huybrechts and make the top 32. That prize money also stays on his record for 2 years, so he is as sure of his place now. If he performs reasonably, maybe he can finish the year in the top 20 or even the top 16."
Erik Clarys won the 1995 Winmau World Masters and is currently active as a co-commentator at VTM 2
The World Grand Prix was a great success for Belgian darts anyway, with Dimitri Van den Bergh also in the semifinals. "You can certainly speak of Belgian opulence," Clarys said. "The ball started rolling a few years ago and during corona darts got an extra boost. So it's getting bigger, bigger and bigger. Mike is currently throwing more steadily than Dimitri, but then again he has more experience at the highest level. If Mike continues to perform like this until the World Championship, it may well be the changing of the guard."
Clarys hopes, however, that both Belgians will push each other to greater heights. "Then you might get the effect that former world champion Raymond van Barneveld had in the Netherlands in 2007. Now just look at how many top Dutchmen there are. Then in the future many top talents can rise in Belgium."
One of those top players of the future could well be Lex Paeshuyse. The 13-year-old Belgian won the youth tournament at the WDF World Masters last weekend. "There are great names on the honour roll. Last year Luke Littler, the losing World Championship finalist, won. Lex is only 13, so he might have what it takes to make it. But there are at least 10 to 15 more youngsters like that waiting. It's simple math. The more people play darts, the more talents will be there."
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- @UndartedWaters I totally agree with your thoughts! I totally respect Kirk but in this instance I was disappointed with his lack of crowd control. I even turned to my husband and said "Could you imagine this happening if Russ Bray was the referee tonight? At least there would have been a crowd admonishment- Ladies and Gentleman please." I so felt for Mike DeDecker...MamaVenus15-11-2024
- Many fans had a sour taste in their mouth by the end of this match. Mike was cruising to victory, playing beautiful darts, when the whistling started in earnest, particularly on his doubles. You could see in Mike's face that it was really affecting his concentration. The referee should have asked for order, just to show that the whistling is unacceptable, and Luke Littler could also have done his part to quieten down the crowd instead of "taking full advantage.:" I put that down to his age though. He needs some good advice on this from his management team and/or more seasoned players. It's got to be about who's best on the night, not who is being harassed by the crowd. Luke Littler played well to get back into the game and win, but it was a hollow victory. If he goes on to win the tournament, that triumph too will be tainted because of this match.
UndartedWaters15-11-2024 - Agree. Van der voort will be the one taking a break when he loses his tour card. Everyone saying about how bad Wright's last 18 months have been, and in that time he's won several Euro tours and the European Championships.Matilda6215-11-2024
- When Littler has at least five ranking Majors he’s in the discussion, until then, forget it.Mysstree14-11-2024
- This is the difference between other players and Phil Taylor. Phil would be completely motivated even before his walk on and didn't need anything else to do so.richieburnettrocks14-11-2024