Former UK Open champion Dimitri van Den Bergh now finds his professional darts status teetering in increasingly precarious territory after crashing out in his opening encounter at the hands of Danny Noppert.
Having lifted the trophy in Minehead two years ago, the out of form Belgian arrived at this year’s tournament with a colossal £110,000 hanging ominously over his ranking total. That sizeable bounty, earned during his triumphant run in 2024, now required defending.
Given the Dreammaker’s recent sequence of underwhelming performances, it was always going to be a formidable undertaking. The task was rendered even more daunting when the draw paired him with another Somerset success story, Danny Noppert – a man who epitomises consistency of the highest level.
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Despite producing a display that could reasonably be described as commendable, DVDB never truly looked capable of unsettling the imperious Dutchman. The Freeze controlled the encounter with ice-cold clinical composure before sealing victory in emphatic fashion, punctuating proceedings with a sublime perfect leg that to end the contest with a bang.
The consequences of defeat were immediate and rather brutal. Van den Bergh’s exit resulted in a precipitous plunge down the PDC Order of Merit, dropping almost a dozen places to number thirty-seven in the world. It represents his lowest ranking position since the moment he captured his maiden televised major title, the 2020 World Matchplay.
Perhaps even more alarming is what now lurks ominously beneath him on the ladder. The Antwerp native now sits just seven places above the dreaded drop zone, with a slender cushion of slightly under £9,000 separating him from genuine danger. And ominously, the financial turbulence may not yet be finished.
While the 2024 campaign proved immensely lucrative for the 31-year old, that very success has now become a source of considerable anxiety. This season is no longer about accumulation but preservation. In Blackpool that year, Van den Bergh reached the quarter finals of the World Matchplay, banking £30,000 in prize money. Later in the autumn he ventured even deeper at the World Grand Prix, progressing to the semi-finals and collecting a further £40,000. That huge haul now looms over the Belgian like an approaching storm cloud.
The situation becomes even more troubling when examining his current form. At present he appears a considerable distance from even qualifying for either of those prestigious tournaments, meaning those sizeable earnings are at serious risk of vanishing from his two-year ranking total. As the well-known phrase goes, you have to be in it to win it. Right now, Dimi isn’t.
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One small fragment of optimism remains. During the Players Championship and European Tour circuit two years ago, Van den Bergh accumulated relatively modest returns. Should he rediscover even a modicum of form in those arenas over the coming months, he may yet generate enough prize money to maintain his tour card. Yet the broader narrative surrounding the Belgian has been troubling for some time.
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During last summer he embarked upon what could only be described as a prolonged sabbatical, stepping away from the relentless churn of the professional tour for a few months. When he eventually returned, supporters hoped the hiatus might have reignited his competitive sharpness. Instead, the problems that had plagued him earlier in the year remained stubbornly unresolved.
Confidence briefly flickered once again when the Flemish thrower insisted his preparation for the World Championship had gone exceptionally well. Unfortunately, the reality at Alexandra Palace proved starkly different. Under the incandescent lights of Ally Pally he was swiftly and unceremoniously dismissed by Darren Beveridge, exiting the sport’s grandest stage without offering even a flicker of resistance.
If Van den Bergh manages to preserve his tour card through the remainder of this season, there may at least be some respite awaiting him at the beginning of 2027. His results from the previous year were relatively sparse, meaning far less ranking money will be due to expire. Even so, the scale of his current decline remains deeply perplexing. It feels almost unfathomable that a player of such natural talent, exuberant scoring power and previous major success has drifted so dramatically off the boil.
For now, however, such distant considerations carry little relevance. The future can wait. For Dimitri, the priority is brutally simple: stabilise his form, arrest the slide, and avoid the jungle of jeopardy that is Q School.
Because at present, with the Dreammaker struggling so conspicuously to manufacture victories, the dreams he once so joyfully created are in very real danger of transforming into a prolonged and rather uncomfortable nightmare.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
