Mike De Decker has revealed he completely shut himself off from darts following his heartbreaking PDC World Championship loss to David Munyua last month. The Belgian, who had seized a two-set lead at Alexandra Palace, saw his advantage slip away as anxiety took hold.
“I was 2-0 up and suddenly I felt nervous,” De Decker told Darts News. “Once he got that first set, something in me just went, yeah... you're going to lose this.” He admitted the defeat summed up a year of inconsistency, with good patches and bad.
Unable to watch the remainder of the tournament, De Decker restricted PDC and darts-related pages on Instagram. “It hurt too much to watch the Worlds,” he said. “I've been trying to survive Christmas for the last five years and it's frustrating.”
On a positive note, De Decker feels he has made significant mental strides. “I'm in a better place with my darts and mentally than last year,” he explained, crediting private work on dealing with pressure. He now aims to rediscover consistent form rather than necessarily winning titles.
Looking ahead, the Premier League remains the ultimate ambition. “Everyone wants to be selected as one of the top eight in the world,” De Decker acknowledged, “but realism remains – I have to play a lot better than I did last year.”
