Van Gerwen on handling setbacks ahead of Premier League opener: "Everything to be right in the head, that's the medicine"

Michael van Gerwen has to make up for a poor foray in the Premier League last time out which saw the World Number One break his record of seven years in a row reaching the final.

Van Gerwen started proceedings well but when it came to the behind closed doors action after the initial weeks, he deteriorated but he believes he is back towards his best.

"I am now playing better than the previous Premier League. I have to grasp that and ensure that I can make a good start, '' he says in conversation with Dartsnews.

The poor results during the Premier League Darts last year prompted him to go back on his old arrows, with which he dominated the darting world before his switch to darts manufacturer Winmau in 2020.

With his old trusted arrows, Van Gerwen showed his old form at times, but this did not lead to a huge title haul with just the Players Championship Finals to show for it.

In addition, the three-time world champion was unlucky a number of times that some players, such as Simon Whitlock, Dave Chisnall and Luke Humphries, played the match of their lives against Van Gerwen.

"Sometimes things are not going well and you are in the corner where the blows fall, '' says Van Gerwen. "Then you have to get out of there as quickly as possible. Make sure you handle those setbacks properly and that's what I did. It has to do with trust. Everything to be right in the head, that's the medicine. ''

Van Gerwen will play his first game on Monday evening against Dimitri van den Bergh, one of the three debutants in the Premier League. Jonny Clayton and José de Sousa have also been included in the line-up for the first time.

"The line-up is different than usual. Lots of new names, '' says the number two in the world. "In the Premier League, there are always a few players who fall through the cracks and a few players who unexpectedly do very well. So I'm curious."