Van Gerwen must wear braces after dental surgery: ''I might not look or sound the same for a little while"

Michael van Gerwen provided an update on his medical situation via a statement on social media. 'Mighty Mike' underwent dental surgery in June, forcing him to miss the World Cup of Darts.

Last weekend, he made his comeback at the European Darts Matchplay, where he lost his first match against Raymond van Barneveld. Van Gerwen also reflected on that defeat in his message. ''I would like to congratulate Raymond for his win over me in Trier. His finishing was brilliant.''

Van Gerwen then explained the surgery he underwent. ''After winning the Premier League Darts and US Darts Masters recently, I needed to have pre-planned dental and jaw surgery which meant I missed the World Cup of Darts. With the schedule being so busy, it's always hard to fit in anything like this, especially with an operation which involves a lot of recovery time.''

The effects of the surgery will be visible and audible. ''I might not look or sound the same for a little while and I'll also soon have braces fitted as well as needing further surgery in future.''

''I don't want this to affect my performance at the Poland Darts Masters and the World Matchplay coming up. I'll be trying my best to win both events, but right now I'm still recovering and hopefully everyone understands this,'' Van Gerwen concluded his message.