"I disappointed family and friends, also myself" - Dimitri Van den Bergh vows to come back stronger after blowing two set lead against Florian Hempel

For Dimitri Van den Bergh, the World Darts Championship ended in a big disappointment. The 29-year-old Belgian went down 3-2 in the second round against Florian Hempel.

Just like two years ago at the Alexandra Palace, Van den Bergh's World Championship hopes were ended by Hempel. Van den Bergh even took a 2-0 lead in sets and had three matchdarts during the encounter, but still lost.

"At no point in the match did I feel like I was dominating," Van den Bergh opened up to Het Nieuwsblad. "But I didn't feel like anything went wrong at any point either. I really didn't. I kept going, I didn't give up. Okay, not always what I wanted happened, but I kept thinking: it's down to three sets won. I had the chances, but here I am: I didn't finish. I know one hundred percent that I disappointed family and friends, also myself. I would have loved to have won my first match here at the World Championship."

Despite the painful defeat, Van den Bergh still wants to remember the positive. "I'm going to need my family and friends very much now. I can't wait to give my wife and little daughter a big hug. You know: I can go home now and make it a beautiful Christmas. And a beautiful New Year. I can party a little, because I don't do that every year. Did I prefer to see it differently? Yes, of course. But it's okay somewhere. That I laughed at my defeat? That wasn't really from disbelief, but more like: he did it again. Again he threw everything in at the last minute. While my doubles didn't work, no matter which one it was. I always believed in them and threw them reasonably well, but not in them. I wasn't doing what I could."

During the match, Van den Bergh was regularly reminded of their duel two years ago at the World Championship. "Definitely and that is to say above all that I never underestimated him. He immediately took the first leg and I thought: if I had won that, the feeling of the match might have been very different. I didn't give up then and I didn't give up later. Even now standing here after a defeat I have the feeling: I'm not giving up."

Van den Bergh reached the semifinals at the World Championship last year, but had a rather disappointing season afterwards. "I got to play in the Premier League after that and that was a great experience, but I also want to say that it was a lot. Especially in the spring. Because of that, I still don't really feel like I've done a lot wrong. I'm 29 years old, I've learned a lot, I'm a dad and I've had to miss a lot. All parents with young children know that a lot changes in a short period of time. You can be gone for a few days and suddenly they can do something... Life is not just darts. I have many dreams as a darter and I have not been able to fulfill them this time, but I am going to one of my other dreams and that is my family. Don't get me wrong: this is coming, lol, for sure! I wanted more, absolutely, and I've been working really hard for it these past few weeks. But yes, heads up. That's my luck: I still have time in my career. There are still going to be opportunities."