“I threw the others in the bin, I was sick of them” – Mike De Decker forces himself to switch darts

Belgian darts fans got their money’s worth at Antwerp Expo on Friday night. After Kim Huybrechts and Mario Vandenbogaerde had already lit up the crowd, it was Mike De Decker’s turn to close the evening in style. Now firmly established as Belgium’s number one, he battled past Martin Lukeman 6–3 to book his place in round two of the 2025 Flanders Darts Trophy, where Martin Schindler awaits.

The atmosphere was electric before a dart had even been thrown, with fans chanting “Mikey is van ons” for minutes during his walk-on. But once on stage, De Decker struggled to find his rhythm. Despite winning the bull and throwing first, Lukeman immediately had a chance to break. He missed, allowing De Decker to scrape into a 1–0 lead. The pattern continued – Lukeman wasted chances, De Decker edged 2–0 ahead.

The Belgian showed his first real spark soon after, but nerves were still evident. Several wayward darts – including some straying into single 5 – handed Lukeman a route back. The Englishman took it in style with a 118 finish for 2–1. When De Decker’s scoring dipped again, Lukeman levelled at 2–2 and the warning signs were flashing.

De Decker, averaging barely 80, had to dig deep. He clung on for 3–2 via double 5, though the performance remained scratchy. Lukeman hit the first 180 of the match and threatened to turn it around, but De Decker eventually broke for 4–2. The joy was short-lived: Lukeman hit a superb 127 checkout to break straight back.

At 4–3, Lukeman spurned another chance to level, and De Decker punished him with double 8 for 5–3. The home crowd sensed victory, but “The Real Deal” still made hard work of it. Lukeman left himself 80 and had another shot to break – only to miss. De Decker seized the moment, finishing 84 on the bull to wrap up a 6–4 win. His average of 82.25 told its own story, but the victory was all that mattered.

Afterwards, an honest but frustrated De Decker didn’t hold back. “Bad, bad, bad,” the World Grand Prix champion admitted to Het Nieuwsblad. “It really wasn’t good. I’ve no explanation. It was the same in Wieze, that first bad game. You never want to lose in the first round – at any tournament, but especially not in front of your home crowd. Maybe that was part of it. Hopefully tomorrow I average 125 and then it won’t be so difficult. But everything will need to be better.”

Currently ranked 19th in the world, De Decker has his sights set on breaking into the top 16 by the end of the season. But the road has been far from smooth, with inconsistency and equipment problems holding him back.

“Since 1 January it’s been up and down,” he admitted. “I’ve struggled with my darts for a long time. Deep down I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t want to admit it. Even in Wieze, I already had new darts for that tournament. But I only picked them up last month before going Down Under. I threw the others in the bin – I was sick of them. Since then, practice has been going well, but I need one of those matches where everything clicks. Then the confidence will come.”