World Cup fiasco for Michael van Gerwen
That’s behind the darts superstar’s sensational exit
By Kevin Schulte, London
January 2, 2024, 7:15 a.m
Michael van Gerwen simply can’t become world champion anymore. Five years after his last triumph, the darts superstar ended sensationally in the quarter-finals. What was the downfall of “MvG” against outsider Scott Williams?
His opponent in the quarter-finals will be a “New Year’s dessert” for Michael van Gerwen, the Dutch darts superstar said after his convincing round of 16 success over Stephen Bunting. In the game against the English outsider Scott Williams, there was no sign of the cocky tones. Van Gerwen played indisposed, weak and, above all, inaccurate when throwing to the double fields. The three-time world champion choked on his opponent.
“MvG made a mistake in the first leg”, Williams thanked him by winning the first leg. Because the Dutchman missed a total of seven darts on doubles in the opening phase, van Gerwen lost the first set 0-3 in front of 3,000 spectators in the sold-out Alexandra Palace in London. In his first three games of the tournament he hadn’t dropped a single set.
In response to the horror start, Michael van Gerwen played a much better second set and, after several failed attempts at doubles, also won the third set. It was to be the only lead for “MvG” in the entire game. Williams took the next two sets to zero and was suddenly 3-2 ahead. At this point, Michael van Gerwen was no longer concerned with how he would stay in the tournament, but rather whether he would be able to continue his mission of “world title number four”.
Williams’ impressive looseness
“MvG” took the sixth round, but the equalizer didn’t get the 34-year-old back on track. Rather, it was Williams who dictated the game, was able to make a number of double mistakes himself and still finally got the game on his side. Round seven went 3-1 to “Shaggy”, as the 33-year-old Englishman is called. With another 3-1 in the legs, Williams also secured the eighth set and thus a sensational 5-3 victory over the world number two.
The Englishman, who started the tournament as number 52, acted relaxed in his dealings with the audience, as he had done in previous games. During the breaks in the set, Williams came back on stage after just a few seconds, threw a few darts and celebrated at the same time to the sounds of “Angels” his namesake Robbie Williams.
The match dart also suited the relaxed style of play. Williams hit double 16 straight away with his first attempt, as if nervousness were a foreign word. Even better: Unlike after his third round match, this time the Englishman didn’t choose an inappropriate World War II comparison in the interview after the end of the game.
No interview after defeat
Michael van Gerwen, meanwhile, “disappeared from the World Cup like a thief in the night,” commented the Dutch TV channel “NOS” the end of the world champion from 2014, 2017 and 2019. The exceptional player of previous years did not want to give interviews, instead got into a taxi and drove to the players’ hotel in the city center. “Incredible. That’s not the way I wanted to start the year 2024,” “MvG” released a statement via X. “I didn’t play my best today and this defeat hits me hard. Thank you for your support during the World Cup.”
Michael van Gerwen’s defeat sent shockwaves, not just across the stands and beer benches in the “Ally Pally”. Something must have happened in the three days since his convincing 4-0 win over Stephen Bunting; there was no other explanation for such an emotionless and listless performance, not only experts and journalists suspected behind the scenes.
Stomach problems spoil “MvG’s” dessert
Williams himself had the feeling during the warm-up game in the catacombs that van Gerwen was not feeling well. “He was often, really often, two or three millimeters below the triples with his darts.”
A little later, Dutch media reported, citing Michael van Gerwen’s management, that the second most successful dart player after Phil Taylor was suffering from stomach problems. “The ailing van Gerwen felt like he was going to vomit,” reported NOS.
“MvG” had imagined his New Year’s dessert to be completely different. Four Englishmen are now fighting for the title: 2018 world champion Rob Cross will meet 16-year-old teenage sensation Luke Littler in the first semi-final this evening after the biggest comeback in World Cup history. Scott Williams will then face Luke Humphries, who will become the new number one in the world rankings if he makes it to the final.