Mike De Decker admitted he was ‘lost for words’ after celebrating a famous BoyleSports World Grand Prix victory in Leicester on Sunday.
De Decker produced the performance of his life to stun Luke Humphries 6-4 in sets at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena, defying a stirring fightback from the reigning champion to clinch the double-start crown.
The 28-year-old had not progressed beyond the last 32 of a televised event prior to last week, but he came of age in the East Midlands to break new ground.
It capped off a remarkable comeback story for a player who only regained his PDC Tour Card in 2020, as he emulated Dimitri Van den Bergh in becoming the second Belgian to win a premier PDC title.
"I'm so proud," said De Decker, who has climbed 11 places to a career-high of 25th on the PDC Order of Merit.
"It feels amazing. I've been really happy with my performance all week, but this tops it off. I'm lost for words.
“I have never been a brilliant stage performer. I don’t really like all the attention and the interviews, but this week I have managed to block it all out.
“Before this week started, I just thought: ‘Win my first game’.
“Look at me now! I’m walking away with the trophy and my first major title.”
Humphries came into Sunday’s showpiece fresh from an inspired straight-sets win against Ryan Joyce in the last four, where he posted the second highest average in a World Grand Prix semi-final.
However, De Decker made a blistering start against the world number one, overcoming a missed dart at double ten to win the opening set by storming into a commanding 4-1 cushion.
Humphries – aided by a series of sublime combination finishes – restored parity at four apiece, only for De Decker to respond with some brilliance of his own to wrap up his maiden televised triumph.
“Playing Luke took a lot of pressure off me, because even I thought he was going to win,” conceded De Decker, who crashed in 16 maximums on his way to victory.
“When I got my first set, I was thinking: ‘At least it’s not going to be 6-0!’
"I was cool in patches. In the beginning I felt really nervous, then I calmed down and went 4-1 up.
“When he came back to 4-4 I started to get nervous again but I thought: ‘He’s the reigning champion and World Champion, so there’s no pressure, and that helped me to relax.”
De Decker and Humphries were regular adversaries during their days on the Development Tour, where Humphries scooped 11 titles in a prolific three-year period.
Humphries also won nine of their 13 meetings prior to Sunday’s double-start showdown, although De Decker was full of praise for the sport’s premier player post-match.
"Luke has been a phenomenal champion for the last year and he's such a nice person,” added the Belgian, a winner on the Players Championship circuit back in August.
"The way Luke has been playing since last year is just brilliant and being the person that beats him this weekend, in a final, picking up this trophy; I'm so happy!
“I have been playing the best I ever have on stage this week. Luke was brilliant to bring it back to 4-4, but I kept believing.
“I am just going to live in the moment right now. I’m not thinking about anything else. I just want to enjoy this win.”