VAN GERWEN FACES JAW BREAK
19/12/2023 By Phil Lanning
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN faces getting his jaw broken next year with more major dental surgery.
The three-times champ begins his bid for another Paddy Power World Championship title against Keane Barry at the Ally Pally tonight.
MVG had dental surgery this summer which left him with a sore mouth and having to wear braces for several months.
Now he needs to have more work done after the World Matchplay, which is likely to see him miss the World Series of Darts tournaments Down Under.
Van Gerwen, 34, said: “I haven’t finished yet. I’m not even halfway through. I’ll have an operation in which they’re going to break my upper jaw and lower jaw. Put them right on each other.
“Then it’s all about recovery. Two years more in a brace. Then I’m about finished. Between the first operation this year and the second one, there has to be a minimum of one year.
“It’s because my upper jaw is a lot smaller than my lower jaw. My underbite is over a centimetre.
“Even a slice of ham, I cannot even bite properly. And because my upper jaw is too small, also you get less oxygen through your nose. That creates headaches. Less sleep. Things like that.
“You have to plan things, especially with my schedule. I can still eat. But only you bite wrongly. You don’t eat how you should eat.
“Given what I have gone through, sometimes I do underestimate that. I think to myself, ‘Why am I so hard on myself all the time?’ But that’s the way I am.”
He takes on Keane Barry in the second round, having not lost at world level before Christmas since 2010.
Van Gerwen reckons that while he remains in a competition, his opponents will always be slightly restless.
The World No.2 added: “I’m a very big tree. They’re still the happiest when they beat me or when I’m out of the tournament. That was the same with Phil Taylor. When they beat Phil, they were really happy. Because he dominated for so long.”
Images by Taylor Lanning.
