“The best player in Belgium is not in the team” – Paul Nicholson analyses out of form Belgium pairing with group exit predicted

Paul Nicholson does not expect Belgium to survive the group stage of the World Cup of Darts. The former professional believes the Belgians have made a major mistake by, in his view, leaving out their current best player, Kim Huybrechts, from the squad for the nation’s tournament in Frankfurt.

Belgium is seeded sixth and faces Hong Kong and Slovenia in Group B. Even so, Nicholson has little confidence in a successful campaign from Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh.

De Decker has endured a difficult season so far. He has yet to win a single match on the European Tour and has crashed out in the first round of a tournament eight times in a row. In addition, he has reached only one ProTour quarterfinal this year.

Van den Bergh has also been searching for his best form for some time. The two-time major winner has not managed to win a match at a televised ranking event since last year’s UK Open.

According to Nicholson, both players therefore have plenty to prove in Germany. “I think Mike De Decker has still got an awful lot to offer this sport and it might have to be a little bit further down the track,” Nicholson said on the Love the Darts Podcast.

“I’m one of Mike’s biggest fans. I think he’s got incredible technique. I think he’s really solid in mind. I just don’t think his game is cohesive at the minute, both psychologically and maybe with his equipment. It seems like ever since he moved to a new manufacturer, it just hasn’t been quite there for whatever reason."

Nicholson then pointed to what he sees as the key reason Belgium will not make a deep run at this World Cup. “The best player in Belgium is not in the team. That’s Kim Huybrechts,” he stated firmly.

“He’s got the experience, he’s got the form, and you know he’s got the firepower and he doesn’t mind going toe to toe with people. I know that from personal experience."

Huybrechts is absent in Frankfurt, however, because the selection is based on the world rankings and his position was not high enough.

According to Nicholson, the onus is now entirely on De Decker and Van den Bergh to prove they are the rightful flag bearers for Belgium. “So, it’s the responsibility of the Belgians to go up and say, this is why we’re ranked higher than that guy."

“We can put the shirt on and we can put something together, not just to reignite them individually, but they could work so well together in this tournament, that they could actually change their careers after this.”

Yet Nicholson does not expect Belgium to top the group. “They could do incredible things, but they’re going to have to do something that I believe that they won’t, and that’s top this group. I don’t think they win this group.”