Mike De Decker has admitted that he needs to keep a lid on his emotions when it comes to interviews after raising eyebrows with his comments about the Dutch Darts Masters. The 29-year-old has not been afraid to speak his mind since being denied a place in this year’s Premier League Darts. It came as a surprise to many, given his triumph at the World Grand Prix last October.
De Decker reacted furiously to his omission from the line-up, branding the decision ‘scandalous’ in a scathing attack on the PDC. He also took a swipe at Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price, suggesting they were only picked for entertainment value and did not deserve to be selected ahead of him.
De Decker claimed he would have accepted if the tournament was ‘somewhere exciting’ like Bahrain or Australia. Reflecting on the backlash that followed on the Double Top podcast, the Belgian vowed to try and keep his mouth shut from now on.
“I got quite a few messages asking why I have something against the Netherlands, but that’s not the case at all,” he said. “I never said I don’t like the World Series of Darts. I probably need to learn to keep my mouth shut sometimes.
“I’ve been to the Netherlands plenty of times. When you think of the World Series of Darts, you dream of playing in Bahrain or Australia, not in the Netherlands.”