Van Gerwen wants to finish season on a high with world title: 'It would be a reward for all the hard work'
PDCFriday, 10 December 2021 at 17:15
Michael van Gerwen travels to London next week as one of the big favourites at the PDC World Darts Championship, which will be played from December 15 till January 3 in Alexandra Palace.
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The tournament starts for Van Gerwen on Saturday December 18. The three-time world champion will face either Chas Barstow or John Norman Jnr. Two unfamiliar faces for Mighty Mike, who doesn't feel the need to analyse his potential opponents in advance.
''I don't have to do any research for it. I just have to play my own game and not look at other players. Of course you want to know in advance if they are throwing quick or slow, but whether they are great players or not, I just have to play from my own strengths'', said Van Gerwen in an interview with Dartsnieuws.com.
Van Gerwen had a difficult start of the season. The 32-year-old Dutchman had to wait until September before winning his first title of the season. In recent months however, he has started to grow more and more towards the required World Championship form.
''I think I have made big steps in the past year'', stated the 2014, 2017 and 2019 world champion. ''Of course, I've come from far, but that makes it all the nicer when you're then rewarded with good performances and winning matches more easily.''
Van Gerwen did not win a major title this season. The Dutchman reached the semi-finals of the UK Open, Premier League Darts, World Matchplay and World Series of Darts Finals, while he lost the European Championship final to Rob Cross. A fourth world title would be a nice way to end the season on a high.
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''Of course, winning the World Championship is the most important thing. It would be a nice reward for all the hard work this year. It hasn't always come easy to me, I've had to do a lot, but I'm happy where I am now and from there I can only see more perspective.''
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I stumbled into the world of darts quite by accident back in 2013. For a Journalism School assignment, I had to produce a live sports report and as it happened, the European Tour event in Veldhoven was the only available option. That weekend, I caught the darts bug. The post-match interviews especially appealed to me, as darts players tend to be much more open and approachable than what you usually see with footballers on television.
After a few detours, I joined Dartsnieuws.com in 2017 as editor-in-chief. I don’t have much competitive experience myself, although I once entered a PDC Development Tour weekend just to experience what it’s like from a player’s perspective. I even managed to win a leg against a Tour Card holder and, quite by accident, earned £50 in prize money.
In 2022, I was also involved in the founding of the TOTO Dart Kings, a commercial darts team, where I worked as media manager for three years. Unfortunately, due to new legislation in the Netherlands, that project came to an end in 2025.
Through my work in darts, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some incredible events, from Premier League nights at Ahoy Rotterdam, to several World Championships, and even the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyond darts, I’m a passionate sports fan in general. You can always wake me up for a game of tennis or padel, and I love following football, tennis, padel, cycling, Formula 1, and ice skating.
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- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- I'd happily pay for a site free of Van der Voort's every squeak and utterance.StraightArrowNoBull19-08-2026
- I think you miss the point. It is just a poll if you are willing to pay for an ad-free site. The content stays free.SheGotLegs16-08-2026
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