"I'm constantly playing with painkillers" - 30-year career in construction leaves Mario Vandenbogaerde with back problems

Mario Vandenbogaerde lost his PDC Tour Card at the end of last year. At Q-School, however, he immediately recaptured it and currently the 51-year-old Belgian is ranked 101st in the world rankings.

Vandenbogaerde looked back on the past six months at the podcast "Double Top. "I have not yet been able to qualify for a Euro Tour this year, last year I managed to do so six times. Since this year, you have to win one more match in the qualifying tournament and that has already gone sour on me several times," Vandenbogaerde said. "Also at the Players Championships it didn't go the way I would have liked. I didn't feel good and was in a negative spiral for a while. However, things are slowly improving and I am playing with more confidence again."

Vandenbogaerde also knows the reason for his lesser performance levels of late. "I have my own business and have been working in construction for thirty years. My back is gradually playing tricks on me and surgery is necessary. But it's not easy to fit it into the busy darts calendar. Hopefully, I have found a place now and the operation will take place this year. Afterwards I have to rest for four weeks at least. That surgery is really necessary, now I'm constantly playing with painkillers."

'Super Mario' is now 51 but still brimming with ambition. "I have two big goals this year and that is to qualify for the Players Championship Finals and the World Darts Championship. For the latter I still need some good results, but I am confident that it will work out."

"I realize I'm not going to compete in the PDC for another 10 years, but definitely want to keep my Tour Card for a few more years. I'm still under contract with some sponsors and those people believe in me. Even if I were to lose my Tour Card at the end of next year, I will go to Q-School again anyway."