Dimitri Van den Bergh took to social media to express the ‘pain in his heart’ following a first round 6-0 whitewash to Karel Sedlacek at the Players Championship 3 event taking place today.
The former Belgium number one and winner of the 2020 World Matchplay and 2024 UK Open is facing a season where he risks losing his PDC Tour Card.
Having struggled with mental health in 2025, The Dreammaker decided to prioritise his wellbeing by taking time away from the oche.
Despite making the semi-final of the 2025 World Masters, he would only play the 2025 UK Open before failing to qualify for the next five major tournaments.
He also only played the first three Euro Tour events of 2025, and having missed so many tournaments throughout the season, he has tumbled down the rankings in the PDC Order of Merit and sits at 26th.
*He was around the top 10 for the prior five years for some context!
With form not on his side, Van den Bergh is defending prize money from a strong 2024 campaign where he won the UK Open and had a few semi-final finishes in major tournaments.
A total of around £300,000+ in prize money to defend means that losing his Tour Card this year is a very realistic possibility for the former major winner and pressure continues to build following the result today…
Dimitri Van den Bergh Suffers First Round Whitewash
Just a few days after speaking about how he needs to fight to save his Tour Card this year and has ‘fallen out of love with the game’, Dimitri Van den Bergh suffered a crushing defeat in the first round of the Players Championship 3 event earlier today.
The Belgian was defeated 6-0 by Karel Sedlacek and averaged just 75 in the loss.
SEDLACEK WHITEWASHES VAN DEN BERGH 😮
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 16, 2026
Karel Sedlacek demolishes an off-colour Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-0, with the Belgian only managing two darts at double across the contest!
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8#PC3 pic.twitter.com/5OgrBRsMBx
Following the defeat, he took to social media to issue a response that read:
“I take strength out of the fact that I try and I also take strength out of the support that I get from all over the world! Thank you dearly!
“I won’t give up!
“But it’s very painful in my heart to play so bad.”
Not only is that type of result difficult to take for a player so out of form mentally, it’s also another small dent on his earning tally.
A first round exit at Players Championship events does not pay out in prize money. Players only receive prize money once they advance to the second round of the tournament (£1,250).
While this doesn’t seem much for a player that has earned £336k over the last two years in ranked prize money, across 34 scheduled PC events it could be something that eases the pressure on his defence of major tournament prize money this year.
While it seems unlikely that a player of Dimitri Van den Bergh’s proven ability could lose his Tour Card just a few years after winning a major tournament, results like today make it seem like a genuine possibility if he can’t find a way to raise his game even away from the TV stage tournaments.
A player being whitewashed in a Players Championship event isn’t as shocking as it seems with a handful of players facing a similar result today, including Bradley Brooks and Mensur Suljovic.
The fact that Dimi has taken to social media to highlight his disappointment and ‘heartache’ through, shows how much pressure he’s under to perform this year…
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