Van Gerwen names dream destination for World Series of Darts: "South America would be great"

Last year at the US Darts Masters, Michael van Gerwen went all the way to the final before losing out to Michael Smith. This time around he's hoping to go one better.

"I hope I can do one step better than last year," van Gerwen tells Online Darts. The US Darts Masters are being held at the famed Madison Square Gardens for the second straight year and MVG is impressed by the growth the game has seen in North America over recent years. "Of course it takes time to get ground on the floor here but as long as you keep building on the image. It took snooker 30 years to get big in China."

Coming to New York fresh off the back of taking a record seventh Premier League Darts title, van Gerwen is understandably full of confidence. "No one expected me to win," he smiles. "I played really well last week and I'm really glad."

In the opening round, 'Mighty Mike' is up against Jake Macmillan and will be the heavy favourite against his much less experienced opponent.

With the World Series of Darts growing by the year, van Gerwen hopes one day that an event in South America will be added to the calendar. "South America would be great," he admits before swiftly returning his focus to the now. "But first let us do well over here."