Michael van Gerwen has slammed Dimitri van den Bergh and labelled his walk-on as the “worst one ever” after the Belgian crashed out in the PDC World Championship first round. 

Van den Bergh went into the Alexandra Palace tournament having endured a nightmare season, and his slump continued into the Worlds, with the world No.23 suffering a 3-0 defeat to debutant Darren Beveridge. 

The former World Matchplay champion averaged just 80.64 and won one leg throughout the game against Beverage, who scored much better and was far more clinical on the doubles, pinning 47.37 per cent of his shots on the outer ring. 

It capped off a disastrous 12 months for Van den Bergh, who tried to lift the mood and put on a show for the fans at Ally Pally with a show-stopping performance during his walk-on.

After changing his walk-on song from Happy by Pharrell Williams to Play Hard by David Guetta, the 31-year-old performed a trademark ‘Dimi dance’ on stage and looked bang in the mood to get his career back on track. 

But Van den Bergh’s darting performance was not as impressive – and Van Gerwen has since weighed in on the Antwerp-born star and his antics in the walk-on. 

“It was horrific,” Van Gerwen told talkSPORT. “The worst one ever. That’s why he’s at home now and I’m here.”

Walk-ons have become synonymous to some darts players over the years, with even Van Gerwen having an iconic song. Indeed, the three-time world champion goes out to Seven Nation Army by White Stripes. 

But Van Gerwen feels that some players think their walk-on music makes them a better darter. 

“Some dart players now think their walk-on music makes them a better dart player. Some people have started to believe too much in themselves now. They all milk it because their ability is a little bit less, so they have to try and get the crowd on their side somehow,” said Van Gerwen as per talkSPORT.

After Van den Bergh bowed out of the World Championship, he messaged Sky Sports pundit and former Premier League champion Glen Durrant, who shared the ‘apology’ text live on air. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, Durrant said: “Listen, I sit here as a pundit these days and I’ve got to not show bias but Dimitri is someone I’m very, very close to and I’m saddened. I’m saddened to see him like that because I know how meticulous he is in his preparation and I know how much it means to him to be at the very top of the game.

“And now he’s experienced the other side of the game, he’s literally just messaged me there a couple of minutes ago almost saying sorry because I have been chatting with him and it just didn’t happen for him for one thing or another and winning only one leg as well.

“I know I’ve been there so I can appreciate his emotions right now. It’s difficult, you’re scratching your head thinking how can you make the game look so easy at one point and then all of sudden everything is becoming difficult.