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.
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- That will tick the box making SKY happy. I presume Beau will forfeit her place in the PDC WC. I have to say, excluding Beau and occasionally Fallon the women's game is very poor at the moment, I can't see any of the current crop even winning a leg let alone a match.richieburnettrocks19-10-2024
- This is wrong. Surely the highest ranked of the two first round players should have got the second round spot with Huybrechts taking their place in the first round.Mysstree18-10-2024
- They are both legends and should be celebrated and have brought darts to where it is now. A statue should be put in Kirkcaldy for Jocky. The town has changed a lot.ListerAnderson16-10-2024
- He is a legend and should be rightfully celebrated.medinabello16-10-2024
- I would not change the format of any of the ranking events to make them double start. Grand Prix is unique and should stay that way.Mysstree15-10-2024