Vincent van der Voort sees different attitude with Michael van Gerwen: ''Not as hungry as he used to be''

Vincent van der Voort recently joined the podcast Double Top where he looked back at Michael van Gerwen's performance at the World Grand Prix, among other things.

Van der Voort saw Van Gerwen, who is considered the best friend of 'The Dutch Destroyer' on the darts circuit, start the tournament well. The 47-year-old dart player from Purmerend, however, had to note that 'Mighty Mike' was a lot less forthcoming in the second round. ''It was very disappointing. The form was good, the first round was good and the second round was way too changeable,'' Van der Voort reflected. ''What you see with the Van Gerwen of this moment and the last few years is that he's not as hungry as he used to be. You really have to try to get him sharp often.

As an example, Van der Voort points to the World Grand Prix. ''When a first round like that goes so easily, you notice that he's very quickly inclined to think it's okay. If you look at the tournaments he won last year, like the World Matchplay, the first round wasn't the best then. Then he got better each time in the tournament and then he gets to the rounds where it really matters and then he's there. Now (at the World Grand Prix, ed.) the first round was really top and then there are two days in between and you don't recognize him again. It is still good, because he misses a nine darter twice, but on the moments where it really mattered, it was not the Van Gerwen we want to see.''

Van der Voort thinks the difference between the first and second rounds has to do with the fact that Van Gerwen, he believes, is less eager to perform well than earlier in his career. ''He no longer has the hunger to want to win every tournament and be the showman. He used to have that, but it has diminished. That doesn't matter, but then you have to pick your peak moments. And then you have to, if you are good then, have that same mindset as before the first match of a tournament'', Van der Voort said.