"I'm so proud that I've got two majors under my belt" - Dimitri van den Bergh using UK Open win over Luke Humphries as motivation ahead of 2025 World Darts Championship

Despite taking the second major title of his career at the UK Open earlier this year, Dimitri van den Bergh doesn't head to the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship on the back of the best year. Nevertheless, the ever-positive Belgian is looking to use his Minehead success as motivation ahead of his Ally Pally return.

"Funnily enough, when i was playing in that final [against Luke Humphries], I wasn't thinking in that moment that I was playing the world champion and the world number one," Van den Bergh recalls of the UK Open final back in March, in conversation with The Mirror. "I was thinking 'it's first to 11 and whoever gets there first will win the title', and that was on my mind. For me it was just make sure you get that last leg, and if you hit that last double of the game that means you're going to be a major champion, that for me was on my mind. But also my sports psychologist said to me 'if you're going up there in that final, this is your gift from all your hard work. this is not a punishment', so just because of these words, for some reason the pressure just went off my shoulders."

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"There was no monkey on my back any more, it was just me going on that stage, having a bit of fun, and then obviously some things happened during the game, like great finishes at the right time, that gave me more belief that this was my tournament and it's going to happen, it's going to be my trophy," the Belgian continues. "If you can have that feeling while you're playing in a major final, it's unreal to have some feelings like that and then afterwards, when you think about it, that it was against the world champion and the world number one. So, for me, i'm so proud that i've got two majors under my belt. it's something i couldn't have dreamt of five years ago."

Van den Bergh posing with the UK Open title

Van den Bergh has been open and honest about his use of a psychologist in order to further his darting ambitions and the 30-year-old is happy with how things are going. "It's definitely a long term thing, because i'm one of them that thinks you need to give someone time to work with you," he explains.

"They say Rome wasn't built in a day, so for me it's always if I try something new I need to give it some time, and then you will know afterwards if it works or not. That's why i went from the first time: 'look, we start in January and the first thing we've got on our calendar that i want to be really good at is the UK Open'," continues Van den Bergh. "We had the motto back then as 'they never saw me coming', and i can't even believe how much it surprised me, because i didn't even see me coming to win the trophy. You want to do well, but winning it was something i didn't see coming myself."

As such, the former World Championship semifinalist is returning to the Alexandra Palace full of optimism. "For me, at Ally Pally as well, for some reason it just works fine. I have no idea why but it just clicks," the Belgian previews. "The only pressure that would be extra is me doing it to myself, if I would put myself more under pressure for some reason, but most of the time that's not the case. i'm always at the venue four hours before my game, getting myself ready and prepared, listening to music and listening to the right things that give me that boost of going on that stage and feeling comfortable, feeling ready."

In the second round, Van den Bergh will face off against either William O'Connor or Dylan Slevin on the evening of Sunday, December 22nd.

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