Van der Voort, who has been Van Gerwen's best friend for years, initially refers to the new darts. ''Since this year he throws with new arrows. He has thrown the UK Open with that darts, for example, but I have been thinking for a long time that they do not stand in the board correctly.

He has to go to Wales as soon as possible to make adjustments in collaboration with the arrow manufacturer. A little more weight in the front, the barrel a few millimeters wider, bore the point a little further. That is all very technical, but for a darts player a small change can already mean a big improvement”, Van der Voort told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.

According to Van der Voort, the world number one also misses the crowd that is normally present at televised tournaments. “He gets adrenaline of that. Michael is an adrenaline darts player. Always has been. That may make a difference, but that should not be the excuse.

The Pro Tours are also played without an audience and he normally performs very well there. Look, all competitors see that Michael's equipment is not optimal, but no one except me will say that. The rest are of course fine with it.”