"It hurts an awful lot, the disappointment is huge" - New blow for Michael van Gerwen raises concern
PDC
Michael van Gerwen is enduring a difficult season and the impact is becoming increasingly visible on the world rankings. The Dutchman went out immediately at the World Grand Prix against Ryan Joyce, squandering another chance to make up ground. According to Vincent van der Voort, the defeat hit his close friend particularly hard.
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Van Gerwen had no prize money to defend in Leicester and could therefore have made significant gains on the PDC Order of Merit. Instead, his tournament ended in the first round for the third year running.
Van der Voort spoke to Van Gerwen after his exit and sensed how much the loss hurt him. “It hurts an awful lot, we’ve talked about it a lot. The disappointment is huge,” Van der Voort said on the podcast Darts Draait Door.
“He’s training and trying to come back. If you don’t train and you lose, you’re gutted too, but you know in the back of your mind it’s on you. Now he’s like: ‘I want to see some reward as well’.”
Michael van Gerwen was knocked out in the first round of the World Grand Prix by Ryan Joyce
Van der Voort does see improvement
That reward in the form of headline results is not coming yet. Still, Van der Voort sees clear signs of recovery in practice and on stage.
“It’s smoother, so if he keeps going like this, it will come. He just always wants it faster than is possible, and people expect that from him too. He realised quite late that he had to change course, and that simply takes time. That’s a criticism of him, that he realised too late it wasn’t going to work that way. He could have figured that out earlier. That didn’t happen, so now you can only move forward.”
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Time is starting to press for Van Gerwen. The three-time world champion has dropped to ninth in the world rankings. That is a huge contrast with the previous thirteen years, in which he consistently ranked among the world’s top four players.
Van der Voort warns the slide may not be over yet. “Now that drifting away is really going to happen, the world’s top 16 isn’t even certain if you look at the rest of this year. That adds even more pressure and doesn’t make it easier. Michael is a guy of extremes, so it could suddenly be extremely nothing in terms of results.”
Hard numbers on the majors
It is above all the performances at the big ranking events that disappoint this season. The last 16 is the furthest Van Gerwen has gone at a major this year. His latest early exit at the World Grand Prix fits the pattern.
“Those are brutal numbers and that’s what you’re judged on in the end,” Van der Voort notes. Yet he also sees an important shift compared to a few months ago. “The positive is that he really recognises it now and is training. Because his peak has been so high, people scrutinise him more. Gerwyn Price had this too, right? He turned it around as well. Very impressive. He’s back up to fourth. People set the bar higher for Van Gerwen, and rightly so.”
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Van der Voort therefore continues to believe in a turnaround, though he realises recent results hardly support that faith. “Only, yes… I also understand that it’s becoming less and less credible. But compared to a few months ago, I had less confidence then than I do now. I hope I’m right for once.”
Littler also sent home surprisingly early
Van Gerwen was not the only big name to stumble in the first round in Leicester. Luke Littler also endured a highly disappointing World Grand Prix. The defending champion lost 2-1 in sets to Luke Woodhouse, ending his chase for a unique run of major titles.
Van der Voort was struck above all by the manner in which the 19-year-old Englishman performed.
“I thought Littler really dropped below par, he was very passive,” says Van der Voort. “It didn’t happen, it was very flat. Truly baffling, it didn’t look good. Woodhouse wasn’t good either, but everything was handed to him on a plate.”
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Van der Voort has no clear explanation for the subpar display. He does add a caveat about the limited number of events Littler is playing.
“For a 19-year-old, he’s actually playing too little. At that age you’re still developing, so you have to train and play a lot to maintain, even improve, your level. But imagine it: you’re 19, the money is flowing in, you’ve just come off the Matchplay with a tournament average of 111 and then someone tells you to train more. ‘What do you think?’, he’ll say. ‘I probably know that best myself’.”
Luke Littler fell in the first round of the World Grand Prix against Luke Woodhouse
‘Right now he’s doing very little’
Littler has never hidden that he doesn’t spend hours on end at the practice board. He also regularly skips tournaments. As long as the titles kept coming, there was little to criticise, Van der Voort argues. With results dipping, that may change.
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“He always got away with it, whatever he did, because he was winning. But now people will think: hang on, it’s really worse now. We need to see how he responds. But if he carries on like this, he’ll only play the European Championship and the Grand Slam before the Worlds in December. He won’t play the Players Championships anymore, so not the Finals either, and probably no more Euro Tours.”
That also puts Littler’s support team more firmly in the spotlight, according to Van der Voort. Relatively little is known about the people who influence the young Englishman’s schedule and development behind the scenes.
“Over the past year there was nothing to evaluate with him, because everything he did worked. He’s quite closed about his support, we don’t know what he’s up to in that area and with whom. But when you’re 19, you still have to play a lot. Of course he has to plan his year, but right now he’s doing very little.”
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- I believe he has it in him to qualify for the Worlds as he consistently wins matches, even if it is only one or two at a time, although his recent PC quarter-final run was somewhat encouraging in that regard. I think there is a lot of pressure for him to retire, people in the media accusing him of tarnishing his legacy. I think that is a ridiculous line of thinking. How ungrateful it is to attach terms and conditions to the amazing moments he has provided us over the course of his career. What position are we in to dictate to him how he should manage his career when it is he who achieved those successes in the first place? What's more, this is his life and the passion that sustains it, it is not for us to decide when his career is over when it is he who must bear the genuine ramifications of that decision. Since I'm sure money is not a concern, the only question on which the decision should rest is whether he truly continues to enjoy competing. He has retired once before, but the desire to compete is what brought him back. We see a lot of negative body language and he does genuinely look miserable when he is not playing well, but only he will know when he wakes up the next day whether he wants to go and do it all over again. If he wants to compete, he should, it's as simple as that, this is a decision that should not involve anyone else but him and his family. He should not retire to indulge the whims of the media or the public. What satisfaction would he receive by being forced into retirement? What closure would it bring to such a brilliant career? When Phil Taylor decided to retire, his decision was final and resolute. I believe RvB needs to get to this point himself, no matter how many 70 averages it might take. We see the likes of John Part continue to compete on a regular basis well past his prime, I say more power to him, and who knows, further glory could be around the corner, it's darts after all, you just never know. Sometimes I worry that RvB is acutely aware of the clamour for him to retire and that this pressure may even have an impact on his performances as he begins to question whether there is even a place for him in darts anymore, further compounding his poor form and creating a vicious loop. Perhaps to take his future into his own hands would provide him with a levity and freedom that would lend itself to better performances, not to mention an improved wellbeing. In any case, it is under these conditions that one can clear-headedly and definitively settle an issue so profound as retirement, not when you feel you're being rushed out the door. If his performances can no longer sustain his presence on the tour, so be it; as it stands his card seems safe for this year but is in serious jeopardy next year. He could always allow himself to drop off the tour naturally rather than forfeiting his place in the top 64, this could provide a sense of finality while offering a route back through Q-School if he so desired; after all, he's done it before. In conclusion, I just hope that RvB can play - or not play - for his own sake, rather than anyone else's, so that when the time comes he can be in no doubt as to his decision, leaving no lingering questions, so that he can reflect with no regret or uncertainty on the marvelous career he has had.Deduce635826-09-2026
- Luke Littler has been good for the sport of darts, no question. But he is not above it. For his sake and ours, he needs to be put in his place sometimes, rather than having his every whim catered to. That is not how you build a good person nor a good sporting organisation, and it's beginning to have consequences.Deduce635826-09-2026
- Extremely disappointing decision. It used to be that, along with major events and Euro Tours, the Players Championship series constituted one of three standards against which successful darts players could be measured, one of three challenges every successful darts player should be expected to master to consider themself among the elite. Now they are dead weight in the darting calendar, and player turnout and the standard of competitiveness will reflect that. The truth is that Luke Littler and other big names would rather play lucrative exhibitions than put in the hard graft that being a successful dart player requires. It undermines the authority of the PDC and the game in general. So what do they do about it? Give them exactly what they want. Of course, why wouldn't they? They are their star attractions. It is ironic that an organisation formed in protest by the sport's elite should be undermined and disrespected by their contemporary equivalents, but the PDC had a chance to stand up to them with a firm message: play 2 events all year and expect the final to be played without you. Instead, they caved in. These events will be hardly worth playing anymore and this decision may have grave consequences for the future of floor events at the elite level. Some may say the calendar is overstuffed, yet these elite players have more than enough time to play plenty of exhibitions. The Premier League in particular is gruelling, but busy players are not expected to play every event, they are expected to manage their playing schedule carefully in order to apportion their time and energy appropriately. Clayton and Humphries, for instance, both sit in the top 20 of the Players Championship and European orders of merit, in addition to competing in the Premier League; they have proven it is absolutely possible and this change is an insult to their efforts in effectively managing their calendars. I think we are seeing players who simply think they are too good for Pro Tour events, arrogance which should be punished rather than rewarded as we are seeing here. Furthermore, why should success in Euro Tours qualify you for the Players Championship Final? The PDC are blurring the lines between those three disciplines of darting excellence, and in so doing destabilising the very foundations upon which the organisation and its success is built. Some may say I'm overreacting, but this, in addition to the PDC's subservience and snivelling obsequiousness toward their biggest assets, makes me fear for the future of professional darts.Deduce635826-09-2026
- I guess this will mean the top players will turn up even less? Taken all the excitement of qualifying away I think. Wish they made it top 32 to qualify and the finals to last all week.Baphomet26-09-2026
- Great article - but not written by this site. It's taken wholesale from last Sunday's Observer with this interview published online on Saturday.Scoobedybop22-09-2026
- Such sad and pathetic little losers giving abuse to young woman for any reason, let alone who she is in a relationship with. Go Beau! An absolute star and comes across as a genuinely nice and kind person. Wish her nothing but the best.BandB22-09-2026
- I wouldn't mind if he quit now to be honest. He's not bigger than darts. Let's face it without darts he'd just be a normal fat gamer kid.medinabello22-09-2026
- You know,I said this,in a sentence,not 5 paragraphs!!rick6721-09-2026
- Oh dear,he lost. Well any competitive sport runs the risk of defeat. He is, currently,his own worst enemy. Wind the crowd up,and you get it back bigger. Put your dummy in kidrick6721-09-2026
- Does an exhibition count in the clean sweep though?BandB21-09-2026
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