MIKE DE DECKER reached the semi-finals of the new Home Tour last week and was able to beat two world champions on the way there, but the Belgian would rather add some ranking points to his current tally.
Chatting with Darts World reader, and contributor, Elias Wilhelm, the multiple Development Tour winner was keen to reassure his many fans that he is in good health and is not suffering too badly during these Covid-19 hit times.
Mike stated that he was “proud and happy to have reached the semi-finals” of the Low6 sponsored event, but that this was not so important to him. He would prefer to reach a few semi-finals on the Pro Tour when it starts again.
The Belgian was able to earn a Tour Card for the first time in 2015 with the Development
Tour, but lost it after two years. Then, earlier this year, ‘The Real Deal’ reclaimed his place in the PDC elite via the Q-School.
During the early part of 2020 he often played very well, with mixed results, but he still thinks that he deserved more.
“I’m happy with how I played, not with the results I got. With
the way I played at the beginning of the year, I deserved more.”
In order to improve his results, he is preparing himself, in the best way possible, to attack fully
when the season starts again.
The former Belgian national champion has changed his overall approach recently. He no longer sets himself precise goals for this year, but instead has more general aims but plans to give his best and looks towards what is coming up.
De Dekker stated:
“I had a main goal this year and that was to qualify for the worlds. Well, with everything that happened in the last few months,
I’m just gonna let it come to me. I’ll do my best, as I always do, but I’ll not look towards the end of the year.”
In order to stay ‘match sharp’ De Dekker has been playing quite a bit of virtual darts and seems to be well prepared for a restart, to the PDC Pro Tour, even at short notice.
“I play various online tournaments and I try to practice online with other players. It’s good to
still have some competitive games running.”
The 25-year-old understands the difficulties faced by the professional organisations and does not want to criticize anything about the decisions that the PDC has to make at the moment.
“I’m a player. It is not my job to criticize them on things they know best.
De Dekker’s fluent style, and his floor event experience, indicate that he has his doubts about applying the ‘traffic light’ model that we have recently seen at the Super League event in Germany.
He added:
“I could play as they do in Germany. I don’t mind waiting to throw until the opponent is off the oche.
I just don’t think this is really suitable for the Pro Tour. “
Mike will be aiming for Pro Tour semi-finals and more major qualifications to show that he is, truly, ‘The Real Deal‘.
Mike was chatting with our reader/contributor Elias Wilhelm (@ewhh27)