Dmitry Van den Bergh had a mixed year. The 30-year-old Belgian won the UK Open and reached the semi-finals of the Masters and the World Grand Prix, but at many other tournaments he lost in the first round. After a welcome period of rest, the Belgian number one starts the 2025 World Darts Championship on Sunday, December 22.
Van den Bergh hasn’t had much action in recent months; As he explains himself, it all became too much for him. Lacking the energy to deliver the desired performance, Van den Bergh applied the emergency brake. “I have been throwing non-stop for the last year and a half,” he tells HLN. “For the first time in my career, I withdrew from several tournaments. And I’m not the only one. It was “too much”. It’s getting more and more crowded.”
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For many years, Van den Bergh was a constant presence at almost every PDC event he could attend. However, as he mentioned, the schedule has become increasingly tight in recent years. “The Dymitr of those times cannot be compared to the Dymitr of today,” he says. “I lead a different life. I have a family with a fantastic daughter, we now share an apartment, I have a new sponsor… And I also gained a few kilos.”
Dimitri Van den Bergh in action
With Kim Huybrechts and Mike De Decker, two of the three Belgians at the 2025 World Cup PDC World Darts Championships they were eliminated in the first match. The pressure is therefore increasing on Van den Bergh to fly the Belgian flag. But “The Dreammaker,” who starts the World Championships as the eleventh seed and will face the winner of the matchup between William O’Connor AND Dylan Slevin on Sunday evening, tempers expectations. “I hope I can come back after Christmas,” he says modestly. The thing is, next year I definitely need to have a much better year.”
