"They're both professional, there will be no issues" - Van den Bergh & Huybrechts ready to put differences aside insists manager Mac Elkin

The 2024 World Cup of Darts gets underway on Thursday in Germany. Under normal circumstances, one of the dark horses for success would be the Belgian duo of Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts. Given everyone that has happened of late however, not many seem to fancy them this time around.

Twelve months ago, there was a notable frostiness between the long time World Cup of Darts partners during their opening match as not even a glance was shared between them. Although, after a hashing out of issues back stage, things did improve as the tournament went on, the relationship between Van den Bergh and Huybrechts is still not particularly good. Add to that the fact that Huybrechts broke his collarbone whilst attending the Belgian Cup final mere weeks ago, even more doubt has been cast on the Belgian duo.

One man who knows van den Bergh especially well, is his manager, Mac Elkin. "Obviously, Kim had a bad injury, a really bad injury. We didn't think he'd make it and we only found out last Monday that he was going to play, when it was confirmed," Elkin explains in conversation with Tungsten Tales. "Kim did play last time in Hildesheim and his first two games of each day were amazing. The next two though, were very below par."

Despite the past issues between the pair, Elkin is confident that his man at least will be able to put differences aside in order to charge at World Cup of Darts glory. "Dimi is a professional dart player, he wants to represent his nation. So yeah, he's happy to play with whoever," his manager clarifies. "They'll both play together and they have a great partnership, very strong."

In terms of their chances, Elkin also has no doubts. "I believe they could win it," he insists firmly. "They came so close last year, it was a great game against Wales. I'm confident they are going to have a good run again! They're both professional. There will be no issues."