A controversial World Cup of Darts pairing may have teamed up for the final time. At the 2025 event, which is underway in Frankfurt, Belgian No.1 Dimitri Van den Bergh and World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker are representing their country as they bid to topple favourites England, whose team will be made up of the world's top two players, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries.
The previous two tournaments have seen Van den Bergh team up with Kim Huybrechts, resulting in both dramatic and amusing moments due to their mutual dislike of each other, which only became apparent when they took to the stage together at the 2023 tournament. The tension was palpable during their opening victory over Finland – a dominant 4-0 win – as the pair barely looked at each other. At the match's conclusion, there was neither a handshake nor an embrace. While Van den Bergh celebrated with his usual dance, Huybrechts took his leave quickly.
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Realising the embarrassment done to both themselves and Belgian darts, the duo pledged to put on a more united front for the rest of the tournament.
They were even moved to release a joint statement, which read: "Following last night's win at the My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts, we have sat down to discuss our recent differences.
"Whilst some issues remain to be resolved in the fullness of time, we are both fully committed to doing our best as a team to win the World Cup of Darts for Belgium, and to represent ourselves, our families and our country in the best light. That begins with tonight's game against China, and our focus is now on preparing for that match as a team."
Rumours about the cause of their disagreement suggested that Van den Bergh had lodged a complaint to the PDC concerning Huybrechts. Nevertheless, the duo managed to set aside their differences for the rest of the tournament. For their subsequent matches, the pair suddenly appeared closer than ever, sharing high-fives and bear hugs as they advanced to the semi-finals, much to the amusement of fans.
Their sudden show of unity nearly carried them through to the final, only for Wales to halt their journey. Despite their impressive run, it did not mend their relationship.
On the eve of last year's tournament, Van den Bergh disclosed to Sky Sports that the rift between them persisted. He said: "I wasn't interested in anything of that. Everybody needs to know that me and Kim are not best friends, and that's period."
But after a convincing victory against Singapore, Van den Bergh sought to quash any talk of discord, saying: "We're here for Belgium. We have learned a lot from last year. We haven't showed the best in the first game last year and this year we're in the position to say we've got to grow up, we've got to be adults.
"We've got a whole load of pressure on ourselves. What is that, our national colours. That means so much more to us as a person and in that case that means even more to us as a country. That's what we're doing and need to be doing, and that's being professional."
After making the last four again, they suffered a heavy defeat to Austria in what could be the pair's final match together following the emergence of De Decker, now Belgium's top-ranked player, just ahead of Van den Bergh, while Huybrechts has dropped to just inside the top 50.
This year, fifth seeds Belgium are in Group B with Latvia and the Philippines. The winners of each group advance to the second round, where the top four seeds, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, enter the fray.