"I'm not dreaming of anything just yet" - Mike de Decker stays grounded ahead of Luke Littler tie in last 16 at Grand Slam of Darts

Mike De Decker has qualified for the last 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time in his career. 'The Real Deal' defeated Michael Smith 5-0 in a winner takes all final group match and now meets Luke Littler in the knockout stages.

De Decker started the group stage of the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts with a 5-2 defeat against Jermaine Wattimena, but kept himself in contention with a 5-2 win over Mensur Suljovic. With Smith also losing to Wattimena, De Decker and 'Bullyboy' had to decide in a mutual duel who would advance to the knockout stage with 'The Machine Gun'. As it turned out though, there was little drama as De Decker dominated, taking the whitewash win with Smith not even granted a chance at double in the entire match.

“If I could bring 100% of my floor game on to the stage I would be a much more relaxed player," said De Decker, who averaged just north of the 100 mark, during his press conference afterwards. “I’m feeling more comfortable on stage though, and it showed again tonight."

De Decker is no longer seen as an outsider for the title after his breakthrough success at the World Grand Prix recently. "But I'm just going into every tournament like I've done before. The only thing that has changed is that I feel more relaxed," he explains. "I'm not dreaming of anything just yet."

As mentioned, De Decker is now set to take on Luke Littler in the last sixteen, after the teen sensation managed to comfortably win his group with a hat trick of wins, even narrowly missing double 12 for a nine darter in his match against Lourence Ilagan on Tuesday night. “It’s going to be a great game against Luke [Littler], and I’m really looking forward to it,” he previews. "But I'm not looking at other players."