Nicholson believes Van Gerwen is 'back' after World Matchplay win: "Nobody is going to intimidate or outgun him no matter their form"

Paul Nicholson was in Blackpool for the World Matchplay covering the tournament for TalkSport and believes Michael van Gerwen is back to his best and that adding Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright sees a big three dynamic like in tennis now in Darts.

"Over the past few seasons, we have established a standpoint that if you win unranked big events, you need to go and win a ranked one just to legitimise your form," said Nicholson to the PDC.

"This was the case with Jonny Clayton in 2021, and now that MVG has gone and won this talked about best ever World Matchplay, we have to realise that Michael is very comfortable with being back in the winning mix again.

"Plus, nobody is going to intimidate or outgun him no matter their form. We define greatness, not by what people win, but how they respond to adversity.

"Just think about our darting trio at the top of the rankings for example. They are like our Nadal, Djokovic and Federer. Price has had injuries, crowds against him, DRA cases and lots else. He smashes all of that out of the park and should be regarded as a great in our time.

"The same goes for Peter Wright, as he was maybe one month away from walking away from the sport that he loved due to financial constraints and pressures in 2014. Look how they responded to that adversity, just like MVG is doing now.

"Not only that, he’s done it twice. After winning The World Masters as a kid, he didn’t know how to answer the pressures of that until maybe 2012. Then, he was written off by many saying he’d had his stint, but now we’re halfway through 2022, that stint has company to this sports delight."