"Sour that I didn't reward myself, but I can take a lot of satisfaction from it" - Michael van Gerwen can reflect positively on lost 2025 PDC World Darts Championship final

Almost immediately after losing in the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship final, Michael van Gerwen left for Thailand with his family for a well-deserved vacation. He skipped the Bahrain Darts Masters, but has now returned in time to compete in the Dutch Darts Masters in Den Bosch this coming weekend.

Some three weeks after missing out on his fourth world title, Van Gerwen looks back on his World Championship campaign a lot more positively. The ultimate crowning achievement was missing after he lost to Luke Littler in the final. ''At the moment itself it's very sour, but it wouldn't be fair to myself if I don't look at this positively,'' the 35-year-old Dutchman told Sports Nieuws. ''I put up a very nice tournament and played fantastic. Sour that I didn't reward myself, but I can take a lot of satisfaction from it now."

After the lost World Championship final, Van Gerwen had another exhibition tournament in Germany, after which he boarded a plane with his wife Daphne and their two children. Anyone who thinks Van Gerwen spent two weeks just chilling there in the sun is wrong though. ''I basically just sat in the shade,'' Van Gerwen said. ''I don't understand why people want to sit in the sun all day. For some it hasn't been a vacation if they didn't get a tan. I really don't care about that, huh," the three-time world champion chuckled.

Van Gerwen did touch the darts from time to time to do a little training. His sponsor Winmau had even sent a dartboard to Thailand. "An hour a day didn't work out," the world number three acknowledged. "But every other day I did throw a few darts. Occasionally I skipped a day because I went on an excursion or something. And in the evening I was tired of that. But I did throw some so."

On Friday night, Van Gerwen begins his hunt for title prolongation in Den Bosch against compatriot Dirk van Duijvenbode. After that, Littler possibly awaits in the quarterfinals. "I drew one of the hardest darters I could get. But I have to win against everyone if I want to win this tournament,'' Van Gerwen concluded.