"That also makes you hungry for more" - Michael van Gerwen hoping rollercoaster year can end on the high of a fourth World Darts Championship triumph

With the countdown to the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship well underway, Michael van Gerwen is once again one of the hot favourites to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy on January 3rd and claim his fourth world title.

Although he wasn't able to come into the Ally Pally in title winning form, losing to Luke Humphries in the final of the Players Championship Finals, 'Mighty Mike' showed himself to be performing at a high level. " I think overall I had a fantastic weekend. I played some incredible darts and I think that was the probably the biggest positive for me out of the weekend, because I think it was the best tournament I played for a while," he assesses in conversation with the Weekly Dartscast.

Nevertheless, losing in the final is always a tough blow to take. "Especially when you shouldn't lose the final," van Gerwen says. "But that's something you learn the most from. In the final, the last four legs were the worst legs of the tournament for me. You only can blame yourself for mistakes like that."

Refocusing now on attempting to claim his first World Darts Championship win since 2019, van Gerwen is looking forward to returning to the Alexandra Palace. "It's going to be a big battle again but I feel good. I feel comfortable and that's what you want to go into the worlds," he says. "The balance between the practice, the family situation and relaxing and everything has to find a place. Then, you can do something really good at the Worlds."

Although he's not had his most successful year, van Gerwen claimed the Premier League Darts title and the World Series of Darts Finals. "I still lost a few more finals than I wanted to but that's also something you learn from. I mean I had a weird year this year. A bit like a big roller coaster, a lot of ups and a lot of downs but that also makes you hungry for more."