"Oh stop all that, I don’t like it. It is weird and slow" - Dimitri Van den Bergh "bullied" into changing successful routine, claims Dan Dawson

Dimitri Van den Bergh is currently going through a difficult spell in his darting career. The 31-year-old Belgian has, for the first time in a long while, slipped out of the world’s top 32 and could even see his PDC Tour Card come under threat before too long.

Van den Bergh enjoyed major success in recent years with his distinctive, deliberate rhythm at the oche, but according to Dawson there is a strong chance that external criticism led Van den Bergh to alter his trusted routine, resulting in a clear dip in form.

Van den Bergh, nicknamed “The Dreammaker,” was for years known for his very specific playing style. The Belgian deliberately took his time between throws, used deep breathing exercises, and often took a brief pause at the table between legs to refocus. That approach proved highly effective: it helped him to major titles and some of the best performances of his career.

Yet that familiar rhythm seems to have disappeared over the past year. The current world number 37 is enduring a difficult period and has not produced any big results for quite some time. Over the past year, Van den Bergh failed to reach a single ProTour semi-final and missed out on qualification for several televised tournaments.

His last major title came in 2024, when he surprisingly won the UK Open. In that final he defeated Luke Humphries and claimed one of the biggest trophies of his career. During that tournament, however, the Belgian also had to deal with loud booing from the crowd. Some fans were annoyed by the time he took to refocus at the drinks table between legs.

According to Dawson, that criticism may have played a role in the recent changes to his game. On the podcast ‘The Darts Show’, the commentator spoke openly about his concern over the Belgian’s situation. “The fact is when Dimitri was slowing things down and doing all his breathing he was winning titles. It is almost like he has been bullied out of it. ‘Oh stop all that, I don’t like it. It is weird and slow’. It feels like he feels pressured to be a certain way to please other people."

The commentator’s message to the Belgian was clear. “Sod them — you play darts how you play darts if it is how you get the best results out of yourself," Dawson urges Van den Bergh. “I really hope it is not him trying to please others because you never will please everybody. You just play darts how you play darts. He didn’t break any rules. Alright some people didn’t like it — fine, I don’t care."

Dawson stressed that with his unique style, Van den Bergh has long since proved he can belong to the world elite. “He played some world class darts and won stuff, World Matchplay champion and UK Open. He won a whole lot of other stuff and probably should have won on the Euro Tour."

Despite his current slump, Dawson still believes in the Belgian’s talent and potential. “He has had a brilliant career and I hope there is loads more to come. "

Even so, the commentator does not expect a major turnaround in the short term. That was evident at the recent UK Open, where Van den Bergh lost his opening match to Danny Noppert. In the coming months, Van den Bergh will mainly need strong performances on the floor events to gradually climb the world rankings again and thus qualify once more for the big TV tournaments.