"There’s still a lot more to come from me" - Michael van Gerwen through to quarter-finals at Poland Darts Masters without hitting top form

Michael van Gerwen easily qualified for the quarterfinals of the Poland Darts Masters on Friday night 'Mighty Mike' was a comfortable 6-1 winner over Czech Karel Sedlacek in the opening round.

Van Gerwen, who won the tournament last year by beating Dimitri Van den Bergh in the final, averaged over 95. “It was a steady performance, but the most important thing is to win," the Dutchman reflected in his post-match press conference. “I think Karel is a really good player, but I think he’s better on the floor than on the stage, and I took advantage of that."

The 35-year-old former world champion is returning to the World Series of Darts after a holiday with the family in the United States. "It was a very tiring week. But it's always nice to be away with my wife," Van Gerwen says of his recent vacation, fully focusing back on the darts. “This is going to be a huge weekend for darts in Poland and Eastern Europe, and there’s still a lot more to come from me tomorrow.”

As many as 16,000 fans are expected at the PreZero Arena in Gliwice this weekend. "I think it's good for darts here in Poland and I think it's looking great into the future," says van Gerwen with a warm smile. "It's great for darts in Eastern Europe also that so many fans come to it. Eventually that has to be the goal for us to start hosting more and more tournaments outside of the UK. The PDC is doing a great job of always expanding the market and making sure that our sport continues to grow."

Van Gerwen will take on Boris Krcmar later tonight in the quarterfinals. The big Croatian was somewhat surprisingly too strong for Nathan Aspinall, taking a 6-4 win in the first round on Friday night.