"Never see him smile anymore" - Fire has gone for Michael van Gerwen and he looks as if he'd rather be anywhere else says Richard Ashdown
PDCWednesday, 26 June 2024 at 14:00
He is still the number two ranked player in the world, yet Michael van Gerwen is winning far less than he used to. His last tournament win dates back to late January at the Dutch Darts Masters and for his last ranked TV major? All the the way back at the 2022 Players Championship Finals.
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A few years ago Van Gerwen dominated and won several majors every year, this year the tally still stands at zero. Even on the European Tour, where he was very successful in the past, he has not yet been able to win a tournament so far this year.
"He is the one player in recent weeks, that I just feel doesn't want to be there. At bit how we felt with Gerwyn Price in the Premier League, I feel like that with Michael van Gerwen now," says PDC spotter and former Master of Ceremonies at Lakeside, Richard Ashdown on Sky Sports' Love the Darts podcast. "I just feel like every time I see him on tour, he'd rather be anywhere else. It doesn't feel like he wants to and I've never had that feeling with him before."
"Yes, his brilliance was always part of it, but his energy and his desire was always so strong. For me, the fire is completely out at the moment," Ashdown continued, laying down some home truths. "I never see him smile anymore. The charisma that he was so famous for has gone for now. He looks like he has the world on his shoulders."
Van Gerwen already gets a chance to reverse the negative spiral this week. Together with Danny Noppert he will be in action at the World Cup of Darts. The Netherlands is the third seed in the group stage and will only play in the knockout stage. In the past, Van Gerwen has won this tournament three times.
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
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- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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