Last week Michael van Gerwen was a guest on Johnny de Mol's talk show HLF8 to look ahead to the World Darts Championship. During the broadcast, Mighty Mike was critical of the way the Order of Merit is set up, where he is currently in third place.
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The 32-year old Dutchman feels that the prize money that players earn through the World Darts Championship weighs too heavily on the rankings. That same day, however, the PDC announced that the prize money for many other tournaments will be raised from 2022.
A decision which is applauded by Van Gerwen, he tells in an interview with Dartsnieuws. "Of course they are not stupid. The CEO (of the PDC), Matt Porter, is a pretty smart guy. He knows what he is doing and with this kind of things they want to prevent that kind of irritation with players'', says the three-time world champion.
"When I was number one in the world, it wasn't fair and it still isn't. I don't know exactly what the distribution is yet, so I don't know if it's fair or not. But that they do something about it is the way you want to go."
With his statement at HLF8, Van Gerwen seemed to suggest he lost his World Number One spot to Gerwyn Price earlier this year because of the current format. Van Gerwen took that suggestion away by saying he thinks Price is rightfully there.
"I think so. He has won quite a lot of tournaments. But if you look at Jonny Clayton (8th in the world), he should be much higher. He has won almost all non-ranking tournaments. Is it fair? We'll leave that for the time being'', says Van Gerwen.
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 📸
We showed Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross some iconic photos from the World Championship, as they each share with us their unique journey to glory 🏆