EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW | "He needs to understand there's one King in Holland": Michael van Gerwen jokes on Gian van Veen after emotional Munich win

The Munich king is back! Michael van Gerwen crowned himself the sole Munich record champion on Monday evening with an 8-5 win in the final and secured his fourth title at the German Darts Grand Prix.

In an exclusive interview with Dartsnews.com, the three-time World Champion looked back on an outstanding tournament weekend - but also spoke openly about fluctuations in form and his ongoing injury problems.

"It means the world to me, we all know what a difficult time I had in the last few weeks. To do it here with the way that I played, I played a fantastic tournament averaged over 102 that means the world to me," said Van Gerwen to DartsNews.com.

"The crowd is amazing, I think one of the best crowds in Germany I've played for, they've been so grateful to me. It's super cool" joked van Gerwen with some perfect German.

Most recently, van Gerwen came under the spotlight due to unusually poor performances on the Players Championship circuit and an injury-related cancellation of the Premier League matchday in Berlin - setbacks that did not leave Mighty Mike unscathed: "It's really tough because I know what I'm capable of and then not to show it too often what I can do. I have to keep believing in my own ability and that's what I did, sometimes that's tough. Sometimes I'm thinking Mike you can do it so much better and I'm not showing it."

Van Gerwen explained that ongoing injury problems with his shoulder giving him issues and remains the main reason for his inconsistent performances: "I had problems with it the last few weeks. It's fine now otherwise I wouldn't do what I did today. If you have a painful shoulder, you can't produce 104, 105. I'm fine at the moment but I need to make sure to get my rest."

The consequences of these difficult weeks were also visible in van Gerwen's equipment at the German Darts Grand Prix: The Dutchman went back to his original Winmau barrels. "I was thinking Michael you're struggling a little bit, you need to go back to basics and move on from there. I already spoke to my technical guy at Winmau and he's already busy on the new plan."

When asked about his final opponent and compatriot Gian van Veen, van Gerwen had words of praise - but also formulated a typical MvG challenge: "He's a fantastic dart player and a great one to look out for the future. He needs to understand there's one King in Holland."