THE REIGNING CHAMPION IS OUT! ❌ Michael van Gerwen falls at the first hurdle in his World Matchplay defence as Brendan Dolan completes a famous 10-8 victory! WOW!
Van Gerwen only third defending champion at World Matchplay to be eliminated in opening round
PDCMonday, 17 July 2023 at 18:00
Michael van Gerwen was surprisingly eliminated in the first round Sunday night at the World Matchplay. 'Mighty Mike' lost 10-7 to Brendan Dolan.
With this, Van Gerwen became only the third player in World Matchplay history to lose his first round after winning the tournament the year before.
The first player this happened to was Colin Lloyd. 'Jaws' took the title in 2005 and then lost to Steve Maish in 2006.
Rob Cross soon had to put a line through his chances of title prolongation in 2020. 'Voltage' triumphed in 2019, but went down 10-8 against Gabriel Clemens the following year.
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Oh, dear... how will we cope now?MrYnyslas197122-11-2024
- They really are going through an insipid spell - at present.MrYnyslas197122-11-2024
- Well done Mike – good to move on and look to the future. With his talent, and increasing confidence on stage, he'll be a force to be reckoned with in the month ahead.
UndartedWaters22-11-2024 - It's called talent and good on him.medinabello21-11-2024
- There are 30 Players Championship rounds to play first throughout the year and you have to be in the top 64 to get to the finals. This is probably the hardest Major to win as its the top 128 players at each event or the top ranked Challenge Tour players if any tour card holders drop out.Mysstree20-11-2024