A Belgian clash! Dimitri Van den Bergh meets strong Mike De Decker in the semi-finals of the prestigious World Grand Prix

In his very first quarter-final at a major tournament, De Decker was allowed to start his set first, the result of winning and bulling and crucial in this short format. But The Machine immediately went through our compatriot’s throw with a 106 finish. Fortunately, De Decker has become mentally strong over the past two years and has recently even become a top player on the big stage. He immediately broke back, saw Wade finish 105 before another break and broke back again. In the deciding leg of the first set, De Decker came under pressure again after Wade broke away at 24. But The Real Deal shot 66 off the board for 1-0 with a fantastic average of 102.

Set two was again evenly matched and, strangely enough, was one in which no one won their own leg. And since it was Wade’s set, you know the positive ending for De Decker. Our compatriot went through The Machine’s throw three times. And he finished it in style with a 122 finish: 2-0 for De Decker.

On to set three, De Decker’s again. The English eleven-time major winner cried out in frustration because the Belgian kept hitting his double 16s to start legs, while Wade himself had to keep on hitting. Now was a set where the two won their own legs quite easily. In the decider, Wade hit a 180, but De Decker followed with his own maximum. To then finish it on double 4 for 3-0.

Nerves

De Decker has reached another milestone this year. Never before has he reached the last 32 at a major, now he is in the last four at an absolute top tournament. He is also the new number 31 in the world. Dimitri Van den Bergh awaits in that semi-final battle. De Decker sometimes trains with the latter and the two shared a stay after the 1/8th finals as the hotel where they previously stayed was full.

“If you hit doubles, you win,” De Decker laughed on stage. “I may not look nervous, but I still suffer from nerves. But I’m doing well, I’m doing the right things at the right time. This match was a little less than the previous one, so I hope to do better again tomorrow. By the way, I had another bad training session for the match, but on stage it has already been different twice (laughs). That I can compete against Van den Bergh? Dimi and I are good friends, we know each other well. I’m going to encourage him again tonight. And if I don’t win, I hope he wins the tournament.”

Van den Bergh also continues

Joe Cullen had the arrows in the first set, but it actually seemed to be in the hands of Van den Bergh. He already had a chance to break in the first leg, then finished 118 on his own throw and went through The Rockstar’s. Van den Bergh then missed an arrow for 1-0 in sets and saw the Englishman take the set with an average of only 82.29. Shame.

Van den Bergh regularly had difficulty hitting his double to start the leg. That produced a comical moment in leg two of set two when he missed six and the crowd started to mingle. The DreamMaker got a laugh out of it, whipped up the fans some more and silenced them by hitting number seven. Not that the level of the match will improve much, but Van den Bergh won the second set quite easily with 3-1. So everything has to be done again.

In set three things went much better for the Belgian number one. He immediately went through Cullen’s throw and easily took his own leg with an average of around 98. Van den Bergh missed four arrows for the set, but finished it with a 90 finish on the bull: 2-1.

One set left to win before a Belgian clash in the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix. Van den Bergh started excellently on his own throw, after which Cullen – somewhat to his own surprise – took his own leg relatively easily. With a 109 finish, The DreamMaker came within one leg of winning, after which he finished it off: 3-1.

Good for a historic Belgian clash. Never before have two Belgians appeared in a semi-final of a major and one of the two will definitely be in the final on Sunday.

The two Belgians will in any case stay in the same house again on Friday night. “Mike has his own room, but I think I’m going to have him kicked out,” Van den Bergh laughed afterwards. “No, just kidding. We will also come to the arena together tomorrow and do our own thing from then on. But it is already certain that a Belgian will be in the final of the World Grand Prix, come on! And I am in the semi-finals of a major again, which is fantastic.”

Van den Bergh also said that he is currently feeling a bit ill. “I have a cough,” said The DreamMaker. “I never really got loose, but I’m back here because I’m a fighter. I don’t want to make excuses either… I’m not 100 percent, but I always give the best of myself. That will also be the case against Mike. I know he is doing very well, he is a great darts player. I wonder what it will be like, I’m going to keep myself out anyway!”