World snooker champion Brecel is a source of inspiration for Van den Bergh: "Want to follow in his footsteps"

Last week, 28-year-old Belgian, Luca Brecel became the first man from mainland Europe to be crowned World Snooker Champion. His fellow countryman, Dimitri Van den Bergh hopes to use this as inspiration to fuel his own World Championship win.

Van den Bergh was full of praise for his fellow Belgian, who defeated Mark Selby 18-15 in the final at the crucible. "Brecel's success will put snooker in the highlights because he's done an incredible job. It was absolutely fantastic and all the comebacks, wow!" Van den Bergh told Sky Sports.

"I've kept messaging him saying 'believe in yourself, you're a beast, never give up' and he would say the same things back to me," Van den Bergh continues. "I'm very proud of the young man and I just hope to do the same thing."

A former winner of the World Matchplay, Van den Bergh reached the World Darts Championship semi-finals for the first time earlier this year. The Dreammaker and Luca Brecel first made contact with each other when they began playing events in the same arena in Milton Keynes during lockdown.

"I was looking at him thinking 'I know you from somewhere' and he said the same thing to me, then I said 'you're that snooker player' and he said 'yeah, you're that dart player'," says Van den Bergh. "Then we exchanged numbers and stayed in contact so seeing him win that world title, I was on the couch all nervy. I'm really proud of that man and honestly I had tears in my eyes. I was full of joy."

The 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 win in his entire career 🤩

🇧🇪 Luca Brecel becomes the 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 player from continental Europe to win the World Snooker Championship! 🏆👏@WeAreWST | #WorldSnookerChampionship pic.twitter.com/P0EGsD9C6C

— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 1, 2023