Van Gerwen not worried about upcoming surgery: 'I'm a dart player, not a weight lifter'

Michael van Gerwen will do everything in his power on Monday to regain the title of the Premier League Darts.

On June 13, the play-offs of the Premier League Darts are scheduled in Berlin. From 2013 to 2019, Van Gerwen reached the final seven times in a row, winning the tournament five times. In the last two years, however, Mighty Mike failed to reach the final of the Premier League.

The 33-year-old found it hard to motivate himself for the final rounds of the regular season, when his qualification for the play-offs was already in. Now it's finally about the real thing.

"After the World Championship, this is the biggest tournament, so it's a very important night. Everything has to give way for this. I am ready to play the final. This is what I have been away from home for all these weeks'', says Van Gerwen in De Telegraaf.

But before Van Gerwen travels to Berlin, he first plays the Nordic Darts Masters in Copenhagen this weekend. Premier League semi-finalists Jonny Clayton and Joe Cullen are not present at that tournament and thus have extra rest towards the denouement of the Premier League Darts.

Still, that doesn't have to be a disadvantage, Van Gerwen thinks. "You can also say I get a lot more match rhythm towards the final and get into the flow. I see it as a nice preparation''.

A day after the Premier League final, the number three of the world has another appointment, namely in hospital. Then he will have surgery to treat carpal tunnel syndrome. This disease causes pain, tingling and/or a numb feeling in the hand or arm.

Van Gerwen is not too worried about that. "I am a dart player, not a weight lifter. I want to concentrate fully on the final now, everything is focused on Monday. I have to make sure my head is right. The rest is all an afterthought."