Van Gerwen believes ‘World’s Best Darts Player’ tag still applies: “Everyone should be scared of me”

Michael Van Gerwen begins his PDC World Darts Championship campaign on Saturday December 18 with a match against the winner of the game between Chas Barstow and John Norman Jr. The 32-year-old Dutchman goes on the hunt for a fourth world title at the Alexandra Palace.

Van Gerwen did not win a major this year and has now dropped to World Number Three. Yet his website still says 'Worlds Best Darts Player'. "That is still true," Van Gerwen responds on the talk show HLF8. "If I play to the best of my ability, I'm still the best player in the world and everyone should be scared of me."

'MVG' won the UK Open at the beginning of March last year but hasn’t really been back to his best since. "I reached a very high level then, but after the coronavirus outbreak I practiced far too little. I also became a father a second time and switched to another darts manufacturer, all factors that ensured that I no longer played to my best level."

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No coach

During his lesser period, Van Gerwen was mainly on his own. "I know some other players work with a coach, but that doesn't work for me, I'm just too stubborn for it."

However, Van Gerwen has shown signs of improvement in recent months and won the Nordic Masters in mid-September. "I've finally found a good set of darts that I feel comfortable with. Still I'm not there yet, it's never good enough for me and I want to keep investing in myself. I want to play darts for another ten years, that means giving the full one hundred percent focus on my sport."