Raed Dart Eric Clarisse: “Now or never will it be a game of darts in Belgium” | Darts

With Michael Van Gerwen facing off, Dimitri van den Berg starts the second round of darts in the Premier League today. You will likely be watching by several thousand Flemish eyes, because the success of “Dancing Dimi” has raised the popularity of darts to unprecedented levels. “The Belgians have the momentum with them,” says former slave Eric Clarisse.

Van den Bergh is in great shape, but everything is close together in PL ‘

Things are moving fast for Dimitri van den Berg. Last year the crowd broke through, and this year started – partly due to cruciate ligament surgery – with much suspicion, but has appeared in recent weeks in the prestigious Premier League. 2021 appears to be the year of confirmation of the Belgian darts stop.

“He has proven that he is at the top,” says Belgian archer Eric Clarisse. “Being at the top of the Premier League as a beginner is great. Sometimes he was lucky, but he forced himself into luck. The level is very close to each other. So it is impossible to say which four players will soon reach the playoffs.”

“Van den Berg, of course, is in good shape, because fifth in the standings is following him by 3 points and he will really have to win two more matches than he does. Much will depend on his first match against Van Gerwen. In the first round they draw 6-6. If he can at least match that,” Van den Berg will take a big step towards the playoffs. “

Van den Bergh concluded the first phase of PL as the leader (participant) of the competition.

“In Belgium we were always there.”

For years, darts seemed to remain a fringe sport in Belgium, but Van den Berg’s top performance in recent times has breathed new life into darts. Clarisse was one of Van den Berg’s predecessors in the 1990s, but he did experience from the first grade how poor regulation of sport in Belgium slowed down the opportunities for local talent.

“When I started in the late 1980s, the level in Belgium was very high,” he says. “Perhaps the Belgian dart circuit was held in greater esteem internationally, for example, the Dutch circuit. But in the mid-1990s, our northern neighbors saw a sudden change due to the tremendous success it was achieving.” Raymond Van Barneveld. “

Darts legend Van Barneveld caused a sensation about darts in the Netherlands in the late 1990s.

“It was a great start bubble In the Dutch game of darts: the training courses and their structure became more professional and many new talents gradually appeared. Meanwhile, the Netherlands is the number one country outside of the United Kingdom. In Belgium, on the other hand, we were always there, “says Clarisse.

“There was little or no organization from above, there was no direction for the big players and above all: There was no work for the youth. Then I ran after the facts. Today, almost nothing has changed. There is no universal union and there is no vision.”

“It’s now or no darts in Belgium”

Given the success of Van den Bergh, it appears that the long-running economic downturn in our country is coming to an end. Will Belgium soon follow the example of the Netherlands’ neighbors and will our country become a nation of great arrows?

“In any case, the Belgians have the momentum with them. Players like Van den Berg and Kim Hieberchets have put their arrows on the map here. Let’s not forget that Huybrechts paved the way for Van den Berg. Without Kim, Dimitri was at the time. Maybe the switch from BDO to BDO hadn’t taken place. PDC most powerful. “

Let’s not forget that Kim Huybrechts paved the way for Van den Bergh.

Eric Clarisse

“Van den Bergh’s results have recently been very popular here to unprecedented levels,” says Clarisse. “Something has been launched, and we hope it will continue to grow. Van den Bergh can create the effect of Van Barneveld in Belgium.”

“The conditions for darts players today are very attractive, both financially and in terms of media interest. Young players in our country are being inspired to follow in the footsteps of Van den Bergh or Huybrechts. It is now or never. If we do not take any steps in the coming years. Then the momentum may be forthcoming. Goes on forever. “

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