"In terms of performance, it just sucked" - Vincent van der Voort reflects on disappointing week for Michael van Gerwen

The 2025 UK Open didn't go to plan for Michael van Gerwen. The 35-year-old Dutchman went down 10-8 in the last 32 against Robert Owen, meaning 'Mighty Mike's wait since for another major ranking title continues.

Van Gerwen was joined in Butlins, Minehead by his best friend Vincent van der Voort during the UK Open. On Thursday night, Van der Voort was also present top see his friend go down in the quarterfinals to Rob Cross on Night Four of the 2025 Premier League Darts in Exeter. "In terms of performance, it just sucked. It was heavily disappointing," Van der Voort reflects via the podcast 'Darts Draait Door'.

At the UK Open, Van Gerwen did win his first match against Dirk van Duijvenbode, but then things went badly wrong against Owen. "Michael had a false start, with 0 out of 16 on his doubles," recalls Van der Voort. "That shouldn't happen. He got too far behind and then he starts whining."

"There was too little energy and conviction in it," Van der Voort, himself a former UK Open finalist, continued. "You can see that he wants to, but the real form is simply missing. He has to blame himself for that. He radiates so little experience."

However, Van Gerwen had gone flat out in the run-up to the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship. "All the training hours he put in towards the Worlds, you can see it helped. But there's just no time for it now. You can see that everything he has broken down over the past few years, that in terms of rebuilding, doesn't go in one straight line."

"It's trial and error, but the results just aren't up to it either," Van der Voort said. "Since the World Championship, he hasn't performed much. There's still a long way to go, only you can see it's still there. He himself will have to realize that more work has to be put into it than he is doing now."