"Maybe one day they can win the World Cup!" - Dan Dawson sees bright future for Belgian darts with Van den Bergh, De Decker, Huybrechts and Baetens

The performance of most of Belgium's top darters this year has been rather shaky. Commentator Dan Dawson sees things really coming together towards the World Darts Championship.

Let's start on a positive note, 2024 is clearly the year of the breakthrough for Mike De Decker. 'The Real Deal recently won his first Players Championship and has since moved up to 36th in the world rankings. Earlier this month, he lost 6-5 to Ross Smith in the second round of Flanders Darts Trophy after a high-stakes match. "Neither of them deserved to lose that thriller," Dawson told Het Nieuwsblad. "De Decker's finishes (including 170 and 152, ed.) were memorable. That's why I love the European Tour: it's always just different for the home players, including the Belgians. They don't get the chance to play in front of their own people as often."

"So you saw that Mike was a little different on stage, he really wanted to enjoy it," the commentator continues. "And at the same time he needed extra focus, but he found that balance I thought. Only he lost a great match against a great player. Ross Smith is absolutely world class. But when Mike looks back on his past few months, his progression is really brilliant and I think he's only going to get better. He is a phenomenal darts player, without a doubt."

De Decker had to wait a while for it, but at Players Championship 16 this year, he defeated Ricky Evans in the final to capture his first PDC ranking title. "He got that title in while he had been leaning against one for a while. That's so important," Dawson said. "Think about Gabriel Clemens. He can throw so well and has been in the semifinals of the World Championship before, but he still hasn't won a title. Then when he is in a final, he almost loses without a chance. That's how it only gets harder for some in the long run. But Mike does have that title now and he knows he can do it, that it's in him to beat anyone on any given day. So he's going to keep making strides, partly because of that."

"And, just as well because Mike is a fun player to watch and someone who can eventually take the heat off Dimitri Van den Bergh, that would be cool (laughs). Where his ceiling lies? When you score like Mike can score, with all the 180s he hits, it's simple: 'The sky is the limit.' Guys like that are always successful, always. If you score more points more often than others, you're going to win more often than others. Then you can win any tournament. Mike just has to keep doing what he's doing: giving himself opportunities, during matches and by qualifying for the big TV tournaments. He's a spectacular talent."

"He is in that sense the 'anti-Dimitri' (laughter)," Dawson continued. "Van den Bergh may not be as lethal on the floor, but he is everywhere because he wins big tournaments or just performs extremely well there. Mike is going to get those opportunities too and it's a learning process for him. That's why those Euro Tours are so important: this is where you learn to play darts on a stage, under pressure, in top matches. And so that big World Championship stage also suddenly becomes a little less frightening."

Van den Bergh won the UK Open and a Players Championship this year, but exited quickly at several other tournaments. The 30-year-old Belgian is experiencing a particularly shaky year. "Those two tournaments he won were unexpected for many and for himself," Dawson stated. "I also don't know what exactly is going on with Dimitri. I think he shows world-class performances at times, but he's not as consistent in it as he was a few years ago. On stage he was always, but always, top, and that magisterial level is hard for him to achieve on a constant basis for the time being. It's a hard one to explain. But if you can't even reach your very best level and still win a major ... Then you're bloody good. And I think Dimitri is still learning, which is crazy when you think about how long he's actually been around. I'm not worried about The DreamMaker, not at all."

"The crazy thing with Dimitri is this: the conditions of the floor tournaments (they are played without an audience, ed.) are exactly the same as on the Development Tour (the competition for players between 16 and 24, ed.), where he is one of the most successful players ever," Dawson continued. "So it's not that he's not capable of stringing together successes there as well. It's a different level though, but then again... On the other hand, you know someone like Van den Bergh can beat anyone on any given day. But it's not encouraging that he's often out in the first round this year. I have no answer to that and he himself probably doesn't either, otherwise it wouldn't happen. But it's also just tough these days to win consistently, even on the floor. Look at Michael van Gerwen. It took months before he could win another ranking tournament, until this week. The level is bizarrely high, a "dog fight" every tournament. It's best to just take what you can get."

In front of his own people he went down twice in the first round this year, both at the Belgian Darts Open and the Flanders Darts Trophy going down right away. "Yeah, he puts it too much pressure on himself in front of his own people," Dawson believes. "Just play in front of your own fans. That's harder than many think. Okay, they do support you and your opponent does get booed sometimes, but when thousands of people hope you hit a double ... That's just pressure. And a Belgian like Dimitri does this once or now twice a year. It's just a rarity. And Van den Bergh is an emotional person anyway, so I understand very well that the stress level goes up enormously then. But I like it when darters show that they care about their sport. That they show they are disappointed after a defeat. That's human. And fans care that players are doing their best, so why not themselves with all the consequences when things go wrong? I hope he can channel those emotions from then and turn them into new top form."

For a long time Kim Huybrechts was the second Belgian in the world rankings, but a few weeks ago De Decker took over that position. Huybrechts did not manage to qualify for any Euro Tour this year and is also currently unqualified for the World Championship. "I'm still in shock about the fact that Kim came back so quickly after that terrible shoulder injury," Dawson said. "He looked like he was rising from the dead ... Huybrechts has a lot of resilience for crying out loud, you have to hand it to him. He's done a lot of great things in darts, but it's all become so competitive. If you have a few bad weeks, it's hard to recover from that quickly. Kim is experienced enough to realize that."

"Just last year he won a floor tournament, so it could just come out of nowhere. I think Kim still has a lot to offer this sport, but there's no guarantee of exactly what that could be. I think of Brendan Dolan in this one. He was top for a few years, then didn't win anything for five years and then all of a sudden he won a few tournaments again. That's strange, but it's not impossible. It's also not that Huybrechts is suddenly throwing nothing. It's not a great season for him, but he's not performing super bad either. There are also extenuating circumstances, so I don't think Kim is having a crisis. He knows well enough how tough it is to compete at the top in darts."

Since this year, with Andy Baetens, a new Belgian has been active on the PDC Pro Tour. The 35-year-old East Fleming won the WDF World Championship at the end of last year and captured his PDC Tour Card a month later. He currently ranks 89th in the world rankings and is provisionally qualified for the upcoming World Championship, although he still needs some strong performances to confirm that qualification for good. "First of all, Baetens is brilliant," Dawson said. "I remember a friend of mine saying earlier this year that in his opinion Baetens is the best Belgian darter at the moment. I wouldn't go that far, but I think he has a lot of potential."

"Look. If De Decker keeps making strides, Van den Bergh keeps doing his special thing, Baetens can market himself on the Pro Tour and Huybrechts regains his better form... Then it looks very good for Belgian darts. I don't know if a Belgian prodigy is on the way, but if the guys who are already there now can make their mark at major tournaments. And then maybe one day they can win the World Cup!"