Michael Van Gerwen previews World Darts Championship
Darts star Micky van Gerwen has revealed that he ‘does not care’ about the style of his World Championship defeat to Michael Smith last January. The pair played out what is largely regarded as the greatest leg of darts at Ally Pally, though MVG has already moved on from the defeat and is hoping to go one better this time.
Van Gerwen and Smith’s final went viral earlier this year when the latter secured his maiden world title in sensational fashion. MVG threw away the opportunity to land a perfect nine-darter when he missed double 12.
With the pressure amped up, Smith stepped up to go one better and put himself in pole position to win the World Championship. ‘The Bully’ completed the perfect nine-darter to send Ally Pally into a frenzy, with clips of the moment going viral on social media.
However, MVG has revealed that he hasn’t even looked back at the leg and has already moved on from the defeat. He explained: “It was only one leg and I don’t really care about all the fuss around it. Perfect darts? It’s history, but you need to keep looking to the future, not living in the past. It just happened, you move on.
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“Unfortunately I was part of it. I haven’t watched it back. What’s the point? I also lost the final against Andrew Gilding in the UK Open. Stupid b*****d, but it can happen.
“I’ve always said the big trees catch the wind, and I am a very big tree. The other players are still most happy when they beat me or when I am out of the tournament. It was the same story with Phil Taylor because he dominated the game for so long.”
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Van Gerwen will be hoping to put himself one step closer to righting the wrongs of last year when he takes on Keane Barry in the second round at Alexandra Palace. The Dutchman’s preparation has been somewhat interrupted after he had major facial surgery in July to realign his jaw, though that has not impacted his performances.
The 34-year-old has won the Premier League, the World Series and reached two other major finals this year, and victory in the World Championships would cap off a sensational year for the Dutch star, irrespective of his dental inconveniences.
Speaking about his future procedures, MVG explained: “I have not finished the dental surgery yet – I am not even halfway. After the World Matchplay I still need another operation where they are going to break my upper jaw and lower jaw and put them right on each other. After that, I’ll be wearing a brace for two more years – then I am about finished. Between the first and second operations, there has to be a minimum of a year. My upper jaw is a lot smaller than my lower jaw, so my under-bite is over a centimetre. I can’t even bite a slice of ham.”
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