Dimitri Van den Bergh salutes new world snooker champion Luca Brecel; The Premier League roadshow heads to Sheffield's Utilita Arena for Night 15 on Thursday, with the Play-Offs returning to The O2 in London on Thursday, May 25
Saturday 6 May 2023 18:00, UK
Former World Darts Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh revealed he had a tear in his eye after watching snooker ace Luca Brecel win the Crucible title.
Brecel clinched a dramatic 18-15 victory over Mark Selby to become the first player from mainland Europe to win the World Snooker Championship earlier this week.
Having clawed back outlandish deficits to sink both Ronnie O'Sullivan and Si Jiahui in the previous rounds, the brilliant 28-year-old made history in Sheffield despite being fuelled by a regime of negligible practice and plenty of parties.
Van den Bergh, who won his first televised ranking title at the 2020 World Matchplay in his debut year at the event, has praised Brecel for his stunning success.
Speaking to Sky Sports, 'The Dream Maker' said: "Brecel's success will put snooker in the highlights because he's done an incredible job. It was absolutely fantastic and all the comebacks, wow!
"I've kept messaging him saying 'believe in yourself, you're a beast, never give up' and he would say the same things back to me.
"I'm very proud of the young man and I just hope to do the same thing."
Van den Bergh first met Brecel in the midst of lockdown when they were both playing tournaments at the same venue in Milton Keynes.
"I was looking at him thinking 'I know you from somewhere' and he said the same thing to me, then I said 'you're that snooker player' and he said 'yeah, you're that dart player'. Then we exchanged numbers and stayed in contact so seeing him win that world title, I was on the couch all nervy. I'm really proud of that man and honestly I had tears in my eyes. I was full of joy."
The tabloids back home have hailed Brecel, Van den Bergh, and former WBC female lightweight Boxing champion Delfine Persoon for putting their respective disciplines on the map as well as making Belgium, with a population of 12 million, one of the great sporting nations.
Van den Bergh explained: "We were not wealthy people before we got into the professional circuit and on the amateur circuit it's not given as what Matchroom have done for darts, boxing, it's incredible. We owe a lot to the Hearn family."
He added: "When it comes to Belgium being a small country, we've got great cyclists, a world snooker champion, great soccer players and we're not too bad in the darts. It's awesome that this little nation can be so big around the world."
The Premier League roadshow heads to the Utilita Arena, Sheffield for Night 15 of the league phase.
Michael van Gerwen takes on Michael Smith in another repeat of the World Championship final, while Gerwyn Price takes on Nathan Aspinall.
Chris Dobey faces Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton squares up to Van den Bergh.
Night 15 - Thursday, May 11
Utilita Arena, Sheffield
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price vs Nathan Aspinall
Chris Dobey vs Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen vs Michael Smith
Jonny Clayton vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
We're back for more Premier League Darts action from the Utilita Arena, Sheffield on Thursday, May 11 - live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm.
