''You have to be able to control the booze'' - Father of Dimitri van den Bergh speaks out on combination of alcohol and darts

Dimitri van den Bergh managed to win a major tournament early this month at the UK Open for the second time in his career. What many people don't know is that his father also used to be a good darter.

At the beginning of this century, Chris van den Bergh was among the best players in Belgium. ''That is certainly no lie, along with, among others, Erik Clarys and Ronny Huybrechts, Kim's older brother. I also became Belgian doubles champion three years in a row and in 2001, I won the French Open,'' he told hln.be.

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However, a pro career was not among the possibilities for Van den Bergh, whose nickname for himself was 'The Rock'. "Belgium wasn't ready for that. In the Netherlands, every darter who could throw a little was pampered. Media attention, sponsorship. I worked full-time at Opel Antwerp, but I was a semi-pro in darts. After work, I was still at home throwing for seven hours. I was a cannon, I could have hurt Van Gerwen. The lack of sponsorship and a stupid accident slowed down my career."

Chris was glued to the TV screen as Dimitri won the UK Open at the expense of Luke Humphries. Chris especially admires his son's mental strength. ''I have always found Dimi's mental resilience to be his greatest quality. He won't lose sleep over it if you take a leg away from him. Dimi puts that aside and in turn tries to twist the opponent's neck for a 12-darter. In darts, you have to learn to lose before you can win. Dimitri remains sportsmanlike. Who even hugs his opponent after a defeat. He is like that, I can't do anything about it'', said Chris van den Bergh.

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He was therefore surprised that ''The Dreammaker'' decided to work with a sports psychologist. ''I thought he was mentally the strongest on the tour. As a dad, I never noticed he had doubts, he hid it well. I knew he was training very hard, he even spoke of physical discomfort in the shoulder and back, but I didn't know anything about a psychologist. Now, if he believes in it and it works, who am I to comment? People sometimes forget that there is a lot more to darts than just throwing darts."

Chris van den Bergh, for example, points out the risks of consuming alcohol. "People only see the dollar signs, but forget that those top performers barely sleep in their own beds. You have to be able to count fast, you have to be able to handle the pressure, all the traveling weighs down and you have to be able to control the booze."

"Yes, of course. It's just the same in billiards, but because we had world-class players there that was hushed up. That was not a pub sport and darts was. I can't stand that. In darts there is drinking, but it is controlled. I even advised an ex-topper to drink quietly while training. If you don't and you go to a tournament on the weekend where everyone is drinking, you are at a serious disadvantage. Nobody says you have to be ladder-sat at the oche, you choose how far you go in that,'' concludes the three-time Belgian champion.

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