MIKE DE DECKER says he is getting “professional help” in a desperate bid to return to his best form – after a shock early exit from the Belgian Darts Open.
And failing to make it past the first round in Wieze means the Real Deal, 30, narrowly missed out on direct qualification for two European Tour events.
De Decker appeared to be on course to progress when he surged into a 5-3 lead against Niels Zonneveld.
But the Belgian, who was beaten in the final by Luke Littler 12 months ago, stunned his home crowd by throwing away the advantage and suffering a 6-5 defeat.
And De Decker slammed his performance before revealing that he is getting assistance away from the oche.
He told Het Nieuwsblad: “It’s s***, isn’t it. You’re 5-3 up, you’ve got the match in hand and then you still give it away.
“Yeah, stupid. I didn’t even get a match dart. I land on 32 twice, but both times a visit too late.
“Otherwise I do get a chance. Especially that leg at 5-4, I start with 180, but then 57 and 44.
“That shouldn’t happen. If I just throw 100 twice there, I close out the match. Yeah, s***. Maybe Wieze just came a couple of weeks too early, but fine.
“You can’t expect to be back at the 2024 level in one, two, three.
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“I’m practicing quite a lot and I’ve also sought professional help. So hopefully it’ll come good soon and we’ll get that level back quickly.
“I know this is part of it, that it’s a process. It’s not nice to lose here, in your own country.
“But if I had lost like this in Munich in two weeks, it would have been stupid too.
“I’m not happy, of course not, but I’m not going to mope now. I’ve had those periods and I’m focusing on my hard work, then it will come.”
De Decker turned his back on darts and blocked social media accounts after his shock loss to World Championship debutant David Munyua last month.
And, in another crushing blow, he has fallen short of a place in the European Darts Grand Prix and Austrian Darts Open by just £250.
De Decker now has to battle for one of ten qualification spots next month.
The 2024 World Grand Prix winner added: “I’m not really looking forward to that. But it’s part of it.
“Last year wasn’t good enough and now I only managed to win one match. Then you don’t deserve it. Maybe those qualifiers can give me a boost.”
Luke Humphries bagged £35,000 after beating Jonny Clayton in the Belgian Darts Open final on Sunday.
