Vortex at Darts World Cup – arrogance attack and arrow failure in ex-world champion van Gerwen

Even before the Darts World Cup in London gets into the hot phase, the tatters are already flying between the top favorites at Alexandra Palace. Defending champion Gerwyn Price was confident after his second round game. The former rugby professional predicted that he would move into the final again and beat the second best player in the world with Michael van Gerwen.

But that doesn’t fit the former world number 1 from the Netherlands at all. “He’s right about one thing, namely to play against me in the final, but the other thing is absolute nonsense,” said the three-time world champion. “We all know that he is very conceited, but deep down in his heart he knows that when I play my game, everyone is dependent on me and not even allowed to be in my shadow.”

Van Gerwen looks back on a failed season. For the first time in ten years, the 32-year-old was unable to triumph in a single major tournament. As a result, the long-time darts dominator had to give up a bit in the world rankings, currently “Mighty Mike” is only number 3 in the world.

And yet it is already the second time that van Gerwen vented his displeasure in public during this World Cup. Before his game in the second round against Chas Barstow (3: 1), the Dutchman’s arrows were suddenly missing on stage. An employee of the association had forgotten to place this on the table of the ex-world champion. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and certainly not at the World Cup,” said van Gerwen. “A really stupid mistake from the people here. They are amateurs! “

Another former champion made positive headlines on Monday. Van Gerwen’s compatriot Raymond van Barneveld returned to the Ally Pally stage after a one-year break. Barney won 3-0 without any problems against Lourence Ilagan in the first round. The 54-year-old actually ended his career in December 2019.