Vincent van der Voort has expressed his enjoyment of the visible tension between Michael Smith and Mickey Mansell during their recent match in Wieze, stating, "I'd rather see some tension and a bit of hostility on stage than everyone being overly friendly all the time." The incident occurred last weekend when Mansell refused to shake Smith's hand before their encounter, a rarity in professional darts. Van der Voort, speaking on the Darts Draait Door podcast, explained the background: "They don't really get along. The last time on the Pro Tour, things went a bit wrong—Smith said something about Mansell, Mansell responded, and then Smith's wife got involved, which always adds fuel to the fire."
Van der Voort offered a nuanced view of the handshake snub. "At the end of the day, a handshake is a sign of respect. If you don't have that respect, then don't shake hands. It did look a bit strange though. It's such a normal thing to shake hands before a match, or at least give a fist bump." He noted that a brief handshake did occur afterwards, but criticized it as inconsistent: "Then you should stick to your decision and not do it at all. It definitely wasn't a warm handshake. Then just say no again—it looked a bit petty." Despite this, he emphasized that backstage atmospheres remain friendly, adding, "Even in the practice room, it's just one big friendly group. But you're about to play that guy—you should want to beat him."
Beyond the on-stage drama, Van der Voort highlighted the professionalisation of the Euro Tour, noting its growth to TV-level coverage. "It's basically become like a compact TV tournament throughout the year. When I won one, it was just on a stream—it was much harder to follow back then." He pointed to specific examples: "Now, for example, in Göttingen it was on free-to-air TV. This weekend in Wieze it was on VTM. In Poland you can watch it on free TV as well. In the Netherlands, you can watch it on Viaplay with Dutch commentary. So you can follow everything live now. They've basically become mini TV tournaments." However, he feels prize money lags behind, stating, "It's around £35,000 for the winner now. Compared to something like the World Series Finals, where you can win close to £100,000, it's quite a difference."
Van der Voort also discussed the increasing importance of national players for viewing figures as the circuit expands. "It's very important for a broadcaster to have local players. I know with Viaplay—when the Dutch players are out, viewing figures drop quickly. So it's really important that a home player does well." With a new TV deal bringing the Euro Tour to VTM, he noted Belgium's limited top-level representation: "Mike De Decker is just about inside the rankings, but that's it. He's not in top form either." Additionally, he addressed logistical challenges post-Brexit: "Traveling is a nightmare. Sometimes you're standing at customs for two hours." He explained that it affects not just British players: "They only have to leave the country occasionally—we always have to go their way. You can't just fly into England anymore. You have to arrange things in advance, like visa applications. It's not ideal."
