UK Open Champion Dimitri van den Bergh says he has no idea who he will represent Belgium with at the World Cup of Darts.
The Belgian Number One has represented his country with Kim Huybrechts every year since 2018, but a serious injury to Huybrechts threatens that.
‘The Hurricane’ was attacked last month at a football match and suffered a double fracture of his collarbone that required surgery.
Despite the severity of the injury, no decision has yet been taken on Huybrechts’s participation and Van den Bergh admits he does not know who he will play the pairs tournament with.
Dimitri van den Bergh reveals World Cup deadline looms
The World Cup is set to commence on June 27th in Frankfurt, and the ‘DreamMaker’ revealed to Online Darts that a decision must be made soon.
“The official cut-off date is not this week but after Poland [next week]. The PDC is looking at all sorts of ways. I’m standing here and the only thing I can say is ‘I’ve got no knowledge [of who my partner will be]’”.
“I know that Kim has an injury. I know that our contracts with the PDC states that you need to prove that you can be at a 100% ability to play. I’m standing here as number one for Belgium but I’ve no more knowledge of who is going to be my partner.”
Mike de Decker on stand-by for Belgium
If Huybrechts is unable to represent his country at the end of June, Mike de Decker will be substituted in as the next highest-ranked Belgian on the Order of Merit.
This may come as a relief to Van den Bergh.
Last year, the pair made headlines in their opening game as the competitors could not bear to look at each other on stage.
It later emerged Van den Bergh and De Decker had lodged a formal complaint against Huybrechts which resulted in a fine.
It seems unlikely that Huybrechts will be able to compete due to the severity of his injury but a source has told Cues&Arrows that the Belgian is adamant he will be in Frankfurt.
Huybrechts has entered next week’s Players Championship events so it remains to be seen how fit the World Cup stalwart is.