Van Gerwen told to 'stop playing' unless he is 100 per cent committed

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN has been told to stop playing unless he is "100 per cent committed" after his worrying slump continued.

The Dutchman had reached the last 32 of Players Championship 25 before losing 6-4 to Jeffrey de Graaf in a high-quality contest that saw both men average more than 105.

But despite desperately needing ranking money, Van Gerwen, 37, withdrew from the following day's event and headed back to the Netherlands with close pal Vincent van der Voort.

Mighty Mike has slipped outside the world's top four for the first time in 14 years and his best televised run of 2026 remains a last-16 finish at the UK Open after FOUR Premier events.

He is also on course to finish a season without a European Tour title for the first time since the Covid-hit 2021 campaign, when only two events were staged.

Former pro Van der Voort revealed it quickly became obvious that Van Gerwen was not in the right frame of mind to continue playing in Hildesheim.

He told the Darts Draait Door Podcast: "He realises perfectly well that something needs to happen and change.

“He is fully aware of that. He is actually thinking about it more than I realised.

"But I noticed that he wasn't ready for it right now. And I've always told him: 'You should only go to tournaments if you are 100 percent committed and want to win.

“You shouldn't go because you think you have to throw.'

"So after that one day, we actually decided very simply that we were better off going home.

"He wasn't 100 per cent there, not prepared for it.

"So I said: 'Just sort everything out this month first, and then go full throttle towards the end of the year.'"

Van der Voort believes the three-time world champ has the desire to fight his way back to the top and knows talent alone will not be enough.

He added: "He still stands behind that, as well as the fact that he needs to put in more effort.”

The long journey back home also gave the pair the chance to have an honest heart-to-heart about Van Gerwen's future.

He continued: "That was actually all very positive.

“We were able to tell each other the truth.

“What is bothering you about the other person and what is going well. That is necessary; you have to be able to talk about it with each other.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning