‘I can’t listen to it’ – Darts star pokes fun at rival’s ‘irrelevant’ interviews and claims he ‘needs media training’
MIKE DE DECKER has poked fun at darts rival Dimitri van den Bergh for his interview skills.
The Belgian ace crashed out of the PDC World Championship to Luke Woodhouse.
De Decker, 29, remained at the tournament as he moved upstairs and provided analysis for Viaplay.
During his appearance, he admitted that he can not watch Van Den Bergh’s interviews.
He insisted that his compatriot often gives “terrible interviews” and believes he should try “media training.”
He joked: “I can’t listen to them.
“I like him to death but I think his interviews are terrible.
“Both before the match and after, after it is often much worse.
“I’ve also said to him that it might be a good idea to do a day or two of media training, that they explain to you how to handle interviews.
“His interviews are often just not good.
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“He tells all kinds of irrelevant things. With the Grand Slam, he suddenly conjured up a coin.
“That was then his ‘Lucky Penny,’ but nobody asks about that at all.
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“Things like that. I just really can’t listen to it.”
Van Den Bergh made it into the next round of the World Championship as he eased past Dylan Slevin 3-0.
De Decker also spoke about his exit from the tournament in which he insisted he “tried everything”.
He added: “It just didn’t go my way. I threw one set well, that was the third, but other than that it just didn’t go.
“I already felt it while throwing in on stage.
“I tried everything at one point. I tried everything but it just wouldn’t work.
“Darts is a moment sport, even if I had to throw half an hour later I might have played like a top player, but that was not the case.
“Next World Championships I’m just not going to throw in I think.”
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries