Luca Brecel's ex-girlfriend opens up on split after qualifying for huge darts tournament

Gaelle Dept, the ex-girlfriend of snooker star Luca Brecel, has qualified for the World Masters darts tournament just three years after taking up the sport.

Dept, 32, participated in the in the WDF World Darts Festival - a prestigious amateur event - to seal her place in the in the women's category of the tournament.

Back in 2022, Dept threw her first darts and she has made a remarkable amount of progress in that time. Indeed, the Belgian has revealed that she has always played sports and developed her darts skills thanks to her hand-eye co-ordination, even if she didn't play the sport until she was 29.

She told Het Nieuwsblad: "I've been through a lot, but I love playing the game so much. Sports are in my blood. I play tennis, volleyball and I run regularly - most recently in Chicago - but my heart is in darts. I've always had some coordination, and because of that I got away with it pretty quickly, I guess."

Dept spent five years dating 2023 snooker world champion Brecel before splitting up a couple of years ago.

Reflecting on the relationship, she said: "That was about three and a half years ago now. We broke up without a fight and each went our own way. I experienced the life of a top athlete up close, with all the travel, tournaments and pressure that comes with it. That was a learning period, but it's a closed chapter."

Now in a new relationship, Dept consciously keeps her personal life private. "I like to keep my private life somewhat in the shade," she admitted. "Now it's my turn to grow, in my own way."

Dept's darts career started rather by accident. "I suddenly had time on Friday nights due to a change in volleyball league," she said. "A colleague asked if I wanted to join a league in a pub - pub darts, as they call it. At first I was a bit skeptical about it. I didn't immediately have the best image of that world, but I thought, why not?"

Something that began as a casual evening of relaxation became a revelation. "I just rolled into it. With no expectations, no goal. And I immediately won my first race. That was a huge surprise, both for myself and the rest. Not much later I threw my first 180 and a 105 finish. People were wondering: who the hell is this Gaelle?"

Success also brings Dept a lot of pleasure. "In the back round, people started saying to 'watch out for me.' And suddenly I felt the expectations, even from myself. I started training, but then things just didn't go as well.

Darts is a mental game - I learned that quickly. I had to learn to deal with frustration, with the feeling that sometimes things just don't work out. But I kept going.

"That surprise effect, that game between fun and concentration, that remains the best thing about darts."

Beau Greaves has won the last two Women's World Masters.