Dimitri Van den Bergh was unable to treat himself to a quarter final against Michael van Gerwen at the World Cup darts. “Dancing Dimi” reached a very high level in his eighth final, but bumped into an even stronger Dave Chisnall. For example, the last Belgian died in the Alexandra Palace.
With two smooth victories without a set loss, Dimitri Van den Bergh was able to draw towards the eighth finals at the World Cup darts with a virtually clear report. With a possible quarter-final against Michael van Gerwen, a “clash of the Low Countries” was in the offing, although the Belgian had to throw himself past Dave Chisnall for that.
Ironclad Chisnall starts like a rocket
However, “Chizzy”, the number 8 in the world, immediately showed that he is of a different caliber than Van den Bergh’s previous opponents. After a raging start and including a handsome 146 checkout, he immediately set the tone with a win in the opening set.
Van den Bergh raised his level a bit, but a devilishly strong Chisnall always had an answer ready. With another 2 ton-plus checkouts, the Englishman also took set 2. Hit the kettle at Van den Bergh, who also missed a setdart on the bullseye in set 3. A gift that Chisnall was grateful for: 3-0.
Van den Bergh goes down fighting
Van den Bergh faced a very tough assignment, but did not let himself be known. With sky-high scores, he quickly threw himself to a win in set 4. It gave “The Dreammaker” courage, because in set 5 Van den Bergh showed himself slightly stronger than his opponent. For example, we had another match in a 3-2 score.
In the important sixth set the nerves started to play with both men. Van den Bergh left no less than 6 arrows on a double in the opening leg and missed another 7 two legs later. Deadly it turned out, because with a 2-1 lead, Chisnall finished in style with a 102-checkout: 4 -2.
So end of story for the Belgians at this World Cup. Van den Bergh, who had come to London with title ambitions, does not see his top season crowned with a quarter final against the world’s number one, Michael Van Gerwen.
