Last year, Mike De Decker made his World Grand Prix debut, losing to Joe Cullen in straight sets in round one.

Before this past week, he’d never made it past the last 32 in any televised ranked event.

Until now. This past week, Mike De Decker became, as his nickname suggests, The Real Deal. He came through a gauntlet, beating four major winners, including world number one and the defending World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries 6-4 in an incredible final to lift his first televised title.

“No one saw this World Grand Prix victory coming”

Before a dart was thrown, De Decker was the third lowest ranked player to qualify. The title sponsors had him 150-1 to win it, which was not a surprise considering his dismal record in TV events. In short, no one saw this World Grand Prix victory coming. If you say that you did, stop lying.

In round one, he survived match darts from world number seven Damon Heta, who incidentally continued his awful Grand Prix record, losing his fourth consecutive first round fixture.

Crucially for the Belgian though, it meant that it was his first ever trip to a last 16 TV game, where he met the two time World Champion, Gary Anderson. Anderson in the build up called him “a cracking player”, and he was proven right, as De Decker whitewashed him.

It was an excellent performance, but then he faced a two time former World Grand Prix winner, and a man hitting a bit of a resurgence in form, in the shape of James Wade. Surely this was the moment where the run ended? Nope. Another whitewash victory occurred, and suddenly people thought, could it really be his week?

To the semi final next, against fellow countryman, and at that point, the only Belgian to win a PDC TV title, in Dimitri Van den Bergh. The UK Open champion struggled though to get in on his starting doubles, and The Real Deal punished him, winning 5-2 to move into his first ever PDC TV final.

An incredible World Grand Prix final sees De Decker champion

So, to that final against Humphries. The man who has set the standards in darts since winning this event 12 months ago. The undisputed world number one. The most difficult player of all to beat.

The first big moment of the final came in the deciding leg of set two. De Decker won it, hitting double 12 to level. Ten legs later, the Belgian pinged an outstanding 154 outshot. It gave him a 4-1 lead. He was bossing the contest, it seemed like the fairytale week would have the happy ending.

Luke Humphries though, doesn’t care for fairytales. Despite being two legs down in the sixth set, Cool Hand found back to back incredible finishes of 149 and 152 with De Decker on a two darter both times. He then hit 50, and instead of being one set from the title, The Real Deal had awoken the slumbering giant. 4-2.

Nine legs later, Humphries found double 16. He’d won six of them, meaning a game was level in the blink of an eye. The script was written. Much like the tide turned for Humphries in set seven of the World final against Luke Littler in January, two huge moments in set six had seemingly swung the game his way. 4-1 looked like it was to be 6-4. Another ridiculous comeback, another title in the bag for the Newbury man.

Except, this time, that wasn’t the script. Leg four, set nine. Humphries, on his own throw, took five darts to get in. De Decker, 2-1 up in legs, knew this was his opportunity. He took it, hitting tops on 80 to go back in front.

Back to back 180s, followed by a 71 outshot gave The Real Deal a 2-1 lead in set ten. He was one leg from glory, but struggled on his own throw, allowing Humphries to force another deciding leg of a set, where he’d have the darts. De Decker though, found the shot of shots, hitting an amazing 180 to leave 55, with Cool Hand on 176. When he came back, he hit the single 15, followed by tops, to get over the line in another epic final in 2024.

“Mike De Decker now has the chance to prove this isn’t a flash in the pan”

This might be stating the obvious, but this is a huge moment for the 28 year old from Mechelen.

This is someone who lost their tour card back in 2017 and had to wait until 2020 to get it back. In that time, he crafted his trade on the Development and Challenge Tour, before slowly climbing up the rankings and really honing his game. He won his first Players Championship title in August, and now he’s a major TV champion.

It’s a testament to the PDC, showing that their system really does develop and grow players. It’s no coincidence that Humphries, Van den Bergh and De Decker, three of the four semi finalists and the winners of the three ranked TV events so far in 2024, all started on the Development Tour.

It’s also huge for the game in Belgium, a place where the PDC has invested in for years. De Decker is the second player, after his good friend Van den Bergh, to win a PDC TV title from the country. Again, it’s no coincidence that this year and next, Belgium has two Euro Tour events. Darts is booming there, and they have another hero to cheer for.

Looking at his stats across this week, De Decker hit 49% of his doubles to start, and 44% of his doubles when he needed to finish, featuring a tournament average of 91.06. Solid numbers, but the main reason why he won this event, was his ability to win the deciding legs of sets.

Set play is a magical format, particularly over a long distance, and this is a plea for the PDC to introduce it to another tournament because it is used nowhere near enough. You can be miles behind in legs won, but only one or two sets behind. It’s about winning those crucial fifth legs, that change games whichever way it goes for you. De Decker played in 14 deciding legs of sets across the week. He won 11 of them. As another Michael might say, he did the right things at the right moments.

Luke Humphries himself said in his post match press conference that he knows what the World Grand Prix can do for players who lift their first TV title at the tournament. He’s gone on a remarkable run since then, rising to the top of the world and establishing himself as the dominant force in darts. Coincidentally, it is only players from Belgium, in the shape of Van den Bergh and De Decker, that have managed to beat him in ranked majors in 2024.

Mike De Decker now has the chance to prove this isn’t a flash in the pan. He’s qualified for the Grand Slam for the first time since 2021 and this time round, he will be one of the names that people watch out for, despite saying how he prefers to stay out of the spotlight. He’s also won one of the two set play events on the year, showing him that he can win in this format. We all know what the other one is, so can he follow in Humphries’ footsteps from 12 months ago?

In Leicester, De Decker was The Real Deal. Now, he has the chance to show he is darts’ latest one.