Van den Bergh and Huybrechts “committed” to Belgium’s World Cup of Darts bid despite ongoing feud

Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts insist they are “fully committed” to Belgium’s bid to land a maiden World Cup of Darts title, despite their ongoing feud.

The pair are representing their nation at the team event for a sixth successive year, but there was obvious tension during their commanding 4-0 victory over Finland on Thursday.

Indeed, there was no handshake between the players, while they barely looked at each other throughout the contest.

Huybrechts, who previously appeared at the tournament alongside brother Ronny, later admitted: “For me, it is the first time playing a doubles tournament with someone you don’t get along with.”

While Van den Bergh declined to comment on the situation, fellow professional Vincent van der Voort claimed while appearing as a pundit on Viaplay that the pair were not on speaking terms due to the former World Matchplay finalist filing a complaint against his compatriot to the PDC.

The Belgian duo released a joint-statement on Friday, in which they were adamant the issues would not impede their quest for glory.

“Following last night’s win at the My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts, we have sat down to discuss our recent differences,” the statement read.

“Whilst some issues remain to be resolved in the fullness of time, we are both fully committed to doing our best as a team to win the World Cup of Darts for Belgium, and to represent ourselves, our families and our country in the best light.

“That begins with tonight’s game against China, and our focus is now on preparing for that match as a team.”

Following Finland’s 4-0 rout of China earlier in the day, Belgium require only a single leg against the latter to progress to the second round as Group A winners.

Although, they will not be joined by Jose de Sousa’s Portugal, who crashed out following a humbling 4-1 defeat by a clinical Lithuania – their second in as many games.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney kept their qualifications hopes alive with a 4-0 victory over Ukraine, as did Mensur Suljovic’s Austria by defeating USA 4-2.

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