Dimitri van den Bergh’s ‘fortunate penny’ leaves him because the Belgian misses eight match darts

Dimitri van den Bergh suffered a shock defeat in the Grand Slam of Darts Last 16 after missing eight match darts.

The Belgian had been 4-0 up, but was pegged back to 5-5 by Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena. Machine Gun is playing the best darts of his career, coming fresh off a European Championship final with Ritchie Edhouse.

And he continued that form on Thursday evening, moving into a 6-5 lead over Van den Bergh. However, the pair proved to be inseparable as they moved into a last leg decider in Wolverhampton.

Van den Bergh had the better start to the leg of the pair, racing into a lead. The Belgian worked himself onto an 82 finish, and after finding the bull he started to struggle on the double 16 – eight match darts came and went for Van den Bergh as Wattimena checked out after two missed match darts himself.

The Belgian’s lucky charm, that he revealed in the group stage, appears to have let him down.

Van den Bergh needed to win his final group clash against Keane Barry to advance to the knockout stages and post-match interview with Sky Sports he explained: “My manager said to me, if you find a penny, pick up because it’ll give you luck.

“I needed to win, so I put it in the back pocket of my pants and I won! Oh my God!”

Van den Bergh roared to the crowd before he continued: “What I’ve shown there…I don’t want to be arrogant but that’s the way I know that I can play. It’s just been about giving myself that extra push.”

He would then break into a dance, to the delight of those in attendance in Wolverhampton.