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Dimitri Van den Bergh has ruled out returning to darts full-time, stating “it’s not good for my family.”
The 30-year-old, who took an indefinite break from darts in April to focus on his health and wellbeing after withdrawing from a Players Championship event just minutes before he was due to play Jose de Sousa, made his return to the sport on Thursday at the World Cup of Darts for Belgium.
Van den Bergh is paired alongside Mike De Decker at the event in Frankfurt, where Belgium began their campaign with a 4-1 group stage win over Latvia.
Speaking to media afterwards, Van den Bergh confirmed he will not be making a full return to the sport.
“This is me being back managing my career, because full-time professional is just not good for my family,” he said.
“I’ve got a second kid coming next month, so me and my manager and my sponsors, we already know what’s going to go down.
“It’s going to be professional in a different level, but I’m ready for it.”
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In previous World Cup of Darts campaigns, Van den Bergh was part of a high-profile feud with compatriot Kim Huybrechts.
In 2023 the pair began the tournament not on speaking terms, ignoring one another during matches before patching things up to reach the semi-finals while exhibiting a total change in behavior, fist-pumping and hugging.
Ahead of the 2024 tournament, Van den Bergh confirmed an issue still existed between the pair.
Asked about Huybrechts on Thursday, Van den Bergh shut down the topic and instead chose to focus on the “difference” competing with De Decker.
“About Kim, I’m just going to end that stuff with I’ve got no comment on this. Whatever everybody knows, leave it at that. It’s their choice.
Van den Bergh is paired with Mike De Decker at this year’s World Cup of Darts after two previous combustible campaigns with Kim Huybrechts
“On top of that me and Mike we have known each other already for a long time. There’s a huge difference in this way of playing because this [gives me the] feeling I’ve got no pressure.
“We’ve got no conflicts. There’s just me and him playing darts, loving what we do and supporting each other the whole year through and now we’re doing it together, which is a massive difference.”
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