"Everybody has their own opinion": Dimitri van den Bergh doesn't mind booing from crowd as UK Open defence begins

Dimitri van den Bergh will open up his UK Open title defence on Friday after winning the title 12 months ago and despite somewhat being a polarising figure with fans, it is about blocking out the noise and finding his way back into winning positions.

Van den Bergh was jeered and booed by fans as he sealed his win over Luke Humphries last year and he doesn't mind taking on the crowd again who he says are entitled to their own opinion.

But it only matters how he plays in his mind and he said that amid jibes about his methodical style he will do what he needs to in order to win.

“Last year, definitely, there were a few moments where the crowd was booing me or trying to get me out of my focus. But that’s okay. They’re allowed to. Everybody has their own opinion. I’m not the one to tell them what to do," he said as per Oche.

“The only thing I know is that when I’m on that stage, the only one that’s going to be throwing the darts is me and I’ll be the only one that’s going to be paying my bills.

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“So for me, it’s fine. I accept everybody’s opinion. It’s their choices. And, at that same time, when it’s a big moment, I’ll make my choice. It’s either for them to understand how big the moment is in my career and if they don’t like it, what I’m doing, that’s okay. It’s everybody’s choice.

“But I’ll just do whatever I do and be focused on what I need to get my best potential game out.”

But also he is looking to shut people up who perhaps don't have his name in their mouth. He said he has listened to people not speaking about him and is ready to win more.

"Lately, I’ve been listening to a few podcasts and you just don’t hear your name too often, which I am surprised of because I was one of the best performers last year. I won a major, three semi-finals, a quarter-final.

“This year, I started off strong again with another semi-final in a major. So I just try to keep showing it to everybody.

“Over the last few years, there’s not many tournaments left where I haven’t been to the quarter-finals or better, so it would be nice to be a little bit more recognised

“I would like to win more, especially in majors. It would be nicer to have a couple of wins in a year in the season. Just to prove a point to myself. That’s, for me, the most important part.

“I want more out of the time and sacrifices that I do for the darts. It wouldn’t be bad to be recognised a lot more than I have in the past, but, if I’m not, then I’ll just keep trying to beat everybody under the radar.”

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