VAN GERWEN SAYS RIVAL WRIGHT HAS A “BIG MOUTH”

MICHAEL Van Gerwen let rip at Peter Wright saying he has a “big mouth” ahead of a possible Worlds clash.

The three-time champion had a dig back at Snakebite after he claimed that MVG’s eyesight was on the blink.

Van Gerwen and Wright could meet in the third round in a repeat of their 2014 and 2020 finals.

Wright had said: “I don’t know if Michael’s wearing contacts at the moment. I think MVG’s vision’s probably going, but he doesn’t admit it at the moment.”

But Van Gerwen, after a first round scare against Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, dismissed Wrighty’s comments.

He said: ‘We had so many comments over the last so many years. I think to speak the name of Peter Wright is a waste of my breath.

“Come on, guys. He can’t even win a raffle these days anymore.

“I love to play Peter Wright. I hope he has a big mouth as he had the last two weeks because I keep smashing him in the exhibitions.

“If you look to my new dates here and there, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my eyes. There’s nothing wrong with my eyes. Nothing wrong with that, don’t worry. I keep getting compliments.”

MVG was a set down and legs behind Tatsunami until he found his scoring touch and swatted any chance of the biggest upset in Ally Pally history.

But he was clearly relieved. He added: “I made it too difficult and yeah sometimes things like games like this. It’s tough sometimes. What can I say, yes it was c**p I can do a lot better.

“If you just look at the perspective of winning this first round, what gives you the most room for improvement is winning a game like this because I think I can’t do anything worse.

“You want to be comfortable, but that’s the way our dance is unfortunately. Sometimes darts gets tough, but I also have to say, in the beginning of the game, I wasn’t really myself. I was too pumped up. I was not with my head.

“I had to dig really deep. I can do a lot of interviews about this was c**p, but sometimes it’s better to stay quiet and try to focus towards the next game. I know there’s a lot of room for improvement, but you need to try to stay calm.

“This is a marathon and not a sprint. You have to be good for a few weeks, I’ve got a few days off now and I know I’m capable of putting things right in my head towards the next one.

“I think I was battling a battle against myself and that’s never a good sign, but you need to try to stay calm and find your own rhythm and your own pace . I always give 100 per cent everyone knows that. But it wasn’t good simple as that.

“Of course I’m in a different situation now, but still last year my first game wasn’t above 100 [average] levels and I also got to the final.

“I put things in perspective and I know from here on, there’s a lot of room for improvement and for the next few days I need to make sure I’m going to work on my own game and try to stay a little bit more relaxed because I think I was making myself too much crazy in my head.

“I was not relaxed, simple as that and then you need to try to stay calm. I wish it was that easy to always stay like that, but more importantly I’ve won.”

Image by TAYLOR LANNING.