"I hope I'm a slightly better player than them" – Michael van Gerwen determined to avoid the same fate as other former world champions

Michael van Gerwen was waiting on 56 when Henry Coates got two darts to beat him on Saturday night in Wolverhampton. The 20-year-old missed both, and Van Gerwen took out the finish to win 5-4 and end a run of three consecutive defeats in his opening matches at televised tournaments. Afterwards, the three-time Grand Slam of Darts champion spoke about how hard it has been to get back to his best, and why he is enjoying having something to fight for again.

Van Gerwen had lost to Daryl Gurney at the World Series of Darts Finals, Ryan Joyce at the World Grand Prix and Kevin Doets at the European Championship. By the end of October he had fallen out of the world’s top 10 for the first time since 2012. After finally winning a match on television again, he was asked how much a victory like this still meant to him.

“It means a lot,” Van Gerwen said in his post-match press conference. “If I didn’t like what I was doing, I wouldn’t be here. I love darts, especially playing on the big stages. Sometimes you need games like this for yourself, for your confidence, for everything.”

Before the tournament, Van Gerwen spoke about practising in front of fans on Twitch. Asked how much work he was putting in behind the scenes, Van Gerwen said: “Everyone who knows me a little bit knows I’m working really hard to try to produce as well as I can week after week. Sometimes it takes time, sometimes it’s difficult, but that’s the way it is, unfortunately. People need to understand I’ve been playing on television for 20 years, and sometimes it’s hard.”

“It’s probably one of the toughest periods in my life,” he added. “But also the most challenging one, the most enjoyable one, because you’ve got something to fight for.” Asked how hard it was to motivate himself to practise, he said: “I don’t have to motivate myself to practise at the moment, so that’s a good thing.”

Van Gerwen broke on double two in the opening leg and held to go 2-0 up. Coates won the next three, breaking back with a 121 checkout on double 14 before holding to take the lead. After Van Gerwen levelled with a 76 finish on tops, Coates took out 156 with the Dutchman waiting on 72. Van Gerwen held in the eighth leg, leaving Coates with the throw in the decider.

“Of course I had to play well,” Van Gerwen said. “In patches he was playing some phenomenal stuff, and then you can’t make mistakes. You need to dig deep. You have to try to win leg by leg, and you’re not allowed to make a lot of mistakes.” He said Coates had taken out some big finishes at awkward moments. “I was a bit sick about that, but that’s the way it is.”

Coates, who won Players Championship 25 without a Tour Card, hit five 180s and averaged 99.19 on his Grand Slam debut. “You need to give credit to Henry,” Van Gerwen said. “For his first time on the big stage, I think he played phenomenally. But I had to dig deep. Everyone knows where I’m coming from. I have to battle for every game I want to win, and luckily today it gave me some joy.”

The pair embraced afterwards and, asked what he had said to Coates, Van Gerwen replied: “If he keeps progressing like this, of course we’re going to hear a lot about him. Simple as that.”

Van Gerwen’s 145 in the deciding leg left him on 56. Coates was on 54 and had the first chance to finish. “Of course it put the pressure on him,” Van Gerwen said of the 145. He explained that if Coates was going to land the winning double, he expected it to go in with his first attempt. “I could see his last dart was a little bit chokey, but what do you expect? Henry played such a great game.” Van Gerwen came back to finish on tops. “I’ve won my first game. On to the next one,” he said.

Before Wolverhampton, Van Gerwen had reached a semi-final and a quarter-final at the last two Players Championship events. He whitewashed Danny Noppert with a 114.15 average and Dirk van Duijvenbode with a 109.98. When a reporter asked how much confidence he had taken from those displays, Van Gerwen put more emphasis on the level he had maintained across both days.

“I didn’t have one good game, but I didn’t have a bad game,” he said. “I was quite solid, and that gives you confidence. That’s what you want.” Van Gerwen said that when he was below his best, he had to find the energy to produce more.

A reporter then asked how he was dealing with the struggle to get back to his best, pointing to top players who had faded after a difficult spell. “What do you class as top players?” Van Gerwen asked. The reporter named fellow former world champion Peter Wright.

“I hope I’m a little bit better than them, you know what I mean?” Van Gerwen replied. “They’re fantastic. Mentally, I think I’m able to turn this around because I want to do it and I like doing it. Of course the challenges are tough, but I need to dig deep and I know that.” Asked what he needed at this stage of his career to get where he wanted to be, he said: “Good games, enjoyment. I love what I do, so I don’t care about the rest.”

Van Gerwen was also asked about the crowd. With Coates threatening an upset on debut, the Dutchman said he understood why some of the support went the other way. “I’m going through my toughest time. You need to understand one thing. I’m a foreigner here,” he said. “I know they’ve treated me well my whole career, but sometimes they support someone else. That’s the way it goes.”

Asked how much confidence the win gave him, Van Gerwen said: “A lot of confidence. I think I can build on this going into my next game.” The victory was his 16th consecutive winning start at the Grand Slam, but this year’s format sends only the group winner through.

Coates plays Jeffrey de Graaf on Sunday evening, before Van Gerwen meets De Graaf on Tuesday. A second victory would put Van Gerwen through regardless of Sunday’s result. If De Graaf wins both of his matches, he takes the Group L place in the last 16.