"Can't remember this ever happening before" - Michael van Gerwen no longer a seeded player on European Tour

Michael van Gerwen has dropped to eighteenth place in the Pro Tour rankings. This means he is no longer a seeded player for the European Tour tournaments.

Van Gerwen is still automatically assured of a qualification spot for the tournaments of the European Tour, due to the change in rules prior to this season that also sees the top 16 in the Order of Merit gain qualification. However, because he is no longer a seed he has to start on Friday in the first round, rather than only starting in the second round on the Saturday.

"I don't actually remember it ever happening before that Michael was not a seed," said fellow darter Jerry Hendriks via the podcast 'Double Top'. "Although I do remember the early days of the European Tour in 2012, when there were a lot more players competing in these tournaments and everyone had to be in action as early as Friday."

"This is exactly what the PDC wanted to prevent by changing the rules at the beginning of this year, so that no longer only the top 16, but now the entire top 32 are sure of starting rights on the European Tour," Hendriks continued.

Hendriks further comments on the whole system surrounding placement for European Tour tournaments. "Dutchmen who participated in Q-School are only allowed to participate in one 'host nation' qualifying tournament. Germans, on the other hand, are allowed to participate in every qualifying tournament in their own country, regardless of whether they were there at Q-School, which is not right in my eyes."

During his career on the European Tour, van Gerwen has lifted the title a whopping 36 times. If he is to lift another one this year, the Dutchman has now given himself an extra obstacle and an extra potential banana skin to overcome first.