MVG CLOBBERS CLAYTON WITH METAL POLE!

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN left Jonny Clayton seeing stars after accidentally whacking him on the head with a flying metal pole! 

Three-time world champion Van Gerwen’s bull-in-a-china-shop energy caused chaos behind the scenes.

World No. 48 Kim Huybrechts recalled a recent tournament where a simple stretch from Van Gerwen quickly turned into slapstick disaster. 

The Belgian ace, Niels Zonneveld, Wessel Nijman, and Van Gerwen were warming up together when MVG’s clumsiness caused unexpected chaos. 

He said on the Darts Draait podcast: “We were chatting and Michael wanted to stretch a bit.  

“So he grabbed one of the metal poles on the oche and yanked it upwards, right into his own face. 

“But that pole was connected to other metal rods on the next board. 

“One of them snapped loose and crashed straight onto Jonny Clayton’s head.  

“It smacked him really hard.” 

As players looked on in shock, 47-time major winner Van Gerwen quickly owned up in typical tongue-in-cheek fashion. 

Huybrechts added: “Then we just hear Michael shout: ‘Yep, that was me!’  

“And of course, he couldn’t resist adding, ‘Not like there’s anything in Clayton’s head anyway.’ 

“He doesn’t always know his own strength.  

“You can compare him to a big, clumsy St. Bernard dog — overjoyed to see you, but barging you out of the way without meaning to.”  

Former UK Open finalist Vincent van der Voort agreed and admitted: “He’s very strong, but yeah, clumsy too.” 

‘The Green Machine’ is coming off the back of reaching the final of the Premier League last week in Birmingham before losing 6-4 to Luke Littler.  

Dutch thrower Van Gerwen currently sits fourth in the Premier League table with 20 points and is just one ahead of Nathan Aspinall who is in fifth with only three nights of action remaining. 

Only once in 12 previous years has the seven-time champion failed to make at least the play-offs of the £1million competition. 

‘Mighty Mike’ has lost the fewest quarter-final matches in the tournament this year with just four but is still chasing his first nightly win. 

However, Van Gerwen will be full of confidence after winning his 38th Euro Tour title last month at the German Grand Prix. 

Van Gerwen returns to action tomorrow in the Premier League at Leeds when he faces Luke Humphries on Night 14. 

Image by Taylor Lanning.