"Dirk was trying everything in the book, he was trying to slow me down": Van Gerwen accuses Van Duijvenbode of mind games which backfired in dominant win

Having comfortably dispatched Dirk van Duijvenbode to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship for the 9th time in the last eleven years, Michael van Gerwen hit out at what he perceived to be gamesmanship from his compatriot, despite the fact it would ultimately backfire for the Titan.

Speaking in the Sky Sports studio with Wayne Mardle and Emma Paton following his victory, van Gerwen claimed van Duijvenbode had been trying to disrupt his rhythm throughout the match-up. "Dirk was trying everything in the book, he was trying to slow me down," van Gerwen said. "But it doesn't do his game any justice. I just had to tell myself 'keep yourself calm Mike, just smash him.'"

Despite not being overly impressed with his performance, "I won tonight with my B-game, I didn't play well at all," van Gerwen managed to keep his average over a ton for the third successive match, making him the only player remaining in the tournament to have a 100+ average in every game so far.

Pre-game, van Duijvenbode had alluded to the fact that as he was the underdog all the pressure was on the shoulders of the 3-time former world champion, van Gerwen. "He said before the game 'I can relax now, I'm the underdog.' Of course, it's nonsense," Mighty Mike said. "I love my job, playing in front of a crowd like this is amazing."

A quarter-final tie with Chris Dobey awaits van Gerwen in the new year and the Dutchman is already looking forward to the encounter. "I think that Dobey did really well, he has a lot of talent so I'm glad to play him," van Gerwen said. "Of course, he will be the underdog, it iss first to five sets in the next round but I am looking forward to playing him."