"He’s not yet handling those setbacks" - Van der Voort still sees uncertainty with Van Gerwen

Although Gian van Veen stole the headlines on Sunday by lifting the European Championship title, Michael van Gerwen also produced a strong display in Dortmund. The Dutchman reached the semi-finals of the European Darts Championship, where he was eventually beaten by the man who went on to claim the title.

For his friend and compatriot Vincent van der Voort, Van Gerwen’s run was a clear sign of progress — even if there’s still work to be done. “You can see from that that he’s still a little unsure,” Van der Voort said on the Darts Draait Door podcast.

The three-time World Champion has endured a turbulent few months away from the oche. Following his divorce and a series of disappointing results, Dortmund marked the first major ranking event in which Van Gerwen had truly made his presence felt again. Still, Van der Voort felt the Green Machine let one slip away. “He can blame himself for letting the semi-final slip against Van Veen,” he said.

According to Van der Voort, Van Gerwen was the better player for most of that clash. “In the first ten legs against Van Veen, he was the better one. He himself thought it should have been 9–1, but I think 7–3 would have been a fairer reflection. Van Veen got away with a lot against him.”

For Van der Voort, that spoke to a mental rather than technical issue. “You can see that Van Gerwen is still a little insecure. He’s not yet handling those setbacks as well as he used to.”

That uncertainty wasn’t limited to the semi-final either. Earlier in the tournament, Van Gerwen also found himself in trouble against Wessel Nijman, narrowly avoiding a first-round exit. “Against Wessel he should have gone 6–4 up and closed out the match, and you saw the same thing against Van Veen,” Van der Voort explained. “In those closing legs, Van Gerwen’s scoring dipped every time. Before, he’d be right there, but now it’s just not quite there yet.”

Van der Voort believes the issue lies not in Van Gerwen’s ability, but in his rhythm and self-belief. “It’s about winning matches and rebuilding confidence. He played a decent tournament without doing anything spectacular. Against Nijman, Chris Dobey and Daryl Gurney he was solid, and against Van Veen he actually did enough — he should have won that one.”