"He had stayed in eight different hotels in 13 days; that's not ideal either" - Van der Voort questions van Gerwen's decision to skip recent ProTour events

Michael van Gerwen seemed back to his best at Players Championship 15. He averaged 122.34 in a 7-0 win over Martin Schindler in the semi-finals before defeating fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode for a first floor title since 2024. Many expected him to be one of the challengers for the recent PC17 and 18 in Leicester, however a no-show left Vincent Van der Voort very bemused.

Van Gerwen has not been the dominant force he once was. The three-time world champion has seen his career stagnate with inconsistent showings on the oche halting his progress in a number of tournaments while an imminent ranking drop could see him fall outside the top 20 in the world.

This makes momentum on the oche a crucial thing, and since that PC title he has lost a little bit of it. Failing to make Finals Night in the Premier League Darts for the second year running, he also opted not to turn up and compete in the two most recent PC tournaments, which were won by Luke Humphries and Luke Woodhouse.

Van der Voort was confused on why ‘Mighty Mike’ would do this. "I have an opinion about that too," he said on Darts Drait Door. "You want him to realise that he was on an upward trajectory. But he chose to skip these tournaments again.

“We talked about it, but he was also away from home for a week and a half, from the Pro Tours in Hildesheim up to and including the Euro Tour in Graz and the Premier League. He noticed that his energy was depleted. Right after that win, things were bad again. He had stayed in eight different hotels in 13 days; that's not ideal either."

The former professional darter admitted that these are all choices van Gerwen has to make, and that the focus has to be catching up the players that sit ahead of him.

"He will only be judged on what he has done over the past two years after the World Championship. Until then, there isn't much to worry about. But there really need to be some standout performances this year, otherwise he will drop significantly. Just look at how far behind he is compared to other players—more than a hundred thousand on some. Just try catching up."

The results do not create a pretty picture in the eyes of van der Voort. There is still much improvement left before van Gerwen is back to his best. "You do see some signs of improvement, but you miss the urgency of him realising that he is not in a position at all to skip tournaments," he said. "You hope that he sees the importance of such a ranking tournament. He reasons it this way: he feels he has to win ten Pro Tours to earn the prize money for one major."

He used Wessel Nijman as an example. The fellow Dutchman has won five PC titles in 2026, earning up over £100,000 on the floor alone in 2026. That has seen him rise into the top 16 in the world and cement himself as a force to be reckoned with on the oche.

This should inspire van Gerwen to be featuring more with the ranking in the mind. "Michael is so good; if he sets his mind to it, he'll be back in no time," Van der Voort acknowledged. "But he needs to realize that there are so many players who are more consistent and better than him. That shouldn't be a blow to his pride, and he should want to turn that around."