Van Gerwen aiming to regain European Championship title: 'This tournament is important to me'

Michael van Gerwen will aim to regain his European Championship title this weekend starting with a tie against Ross Smith.

If Van Gerwen does win, it will be a third televised title in as many weeks as he puts his form line back on track ahead of a slew of major tournaments.

'Mighty Mike' said that from his perspective it's important to him to win this title as he plays all year to be number one seed in this event.

He added that having lots of TV events to come is a good thing as he loves to perform on stage and win titles and this is something that he will hope to continue this weekend.

"Last year was very disappointing for myself, fair play to Steve West he played a great game to beat me," said Van Gerwen, who held the European Championship title from 2014 to 2017.

"This tournament is important to me because I play all year on the European Tour to be number one seed here.

"Last weekend was a phenomenal weekend of high-standard darts for me, I didn't have one average under 100.

"There's lots of TV tournaments coming up and that's a really nice position to be in because I love to perform on stage, especially when I'm playing well and winning things."

Click here to view the prize fund breakdown for the latest major tournament which will take place in Gottingen this weekend.