VAN GERWEN CALLS FOR EVERY MAJOR EVENT TO BE RANKED
25/10/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN believes EVERY major tournament should be ranked.
‘Mighty Mike’ cruised into the quarter-final of the European Championship after beating Chris Dobey 10-5, averaging 100.76 and landing 10 of his 22 doubles.
World No. 3 Van Gerwen has shown flashes of brilliance in 2025 after ending his two-year wait for a major crown by beating Luke Littler 11-7 to win the World Series Finals last month.
But the Dutchman hasn’t lifted a ranked televised title since the 2022 Players Championship Finals though he insists he is not bothered by that statistic.
He said: “It’s been three years since lifting a ranking major? What was that, two or three weeks ago then?
“I can remember back in the day Jonny Clayton won every non-ranked TV tournament!
“So I don’t really look at things like that. I think every tournament should be ranked — especially a tournament like this.
“If you look at golf, the Masters is ranked as well, so why shouldn’t other tournaments in darts be ranked too?”
Three-times world champ Van Gerwen FAILED to qualify for the Players Championship Finals after falling short of the required prize money on the ProTour floor events this campaign.
MVG also suffered some early exits recently at the PDC Premier events after bowing out in the first round of the World Grand Prix and the second round of the World Matchplay.
Van Gerwen has now set his sights firmly on reclaiming the Sid Waddell Trophy at Ally Pally.
He added: “I didn’t pull out of the Players Championship Finals.
“There’s a lot of factors — it’s not just one thing. It’s probably also the way I’ve been playing on the Pro Tour; I didn’t really want to be there.
“Of course, my personal situation too — there’s a lot of factors that made this happen.
“It’s tough for me not being there, but there are a lot of other tournaments I need to make sure I’m ready for.
“That’s my goal at the moment — to do well here, at the Grand Slam, and of course at the World Championships.
“In between there’ll be a few exhibitions, but my eye has to be on the Worlds. Simple as that.”
The 36-year-old is feeling confident he can attain glory for a FIFTH time in Dortmund as he gears up for a last eight clash with Daryl Gurney.
He continued: “Tomorrow’s going to be a really important day for me — I think for everyone in the quarter-finals.
“But I’m feeling good, and I need to make sure I show it again tomorrow.
“You always need to give 100 percent — that’s what I do, and I’ll never give up. I always give it 200 percent.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
