VAN GERWEN SET TO SKIP SWISS DARTS TROPHY
24/09/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN is set to pull out of the Swiss Darts Trophy in Basel this Friday.
Three-times world champ Van Gerwen will miss the Euro Tour event in order to focus on securing qualification for the Players Championship Finals which takes place in Minehead during November.
Only the top 64 in the Players Championship Order of Merit make it – and MVG is languishing in 103rd after banking just £10,500 in prize money from floor events this year.
Former pro and close friend Vincent van der Voort says the three-time world champ will now focus on competing in the three ProTour events in Leicester next week.
He said: “That’s where the focus is now. In those five more tournaments he is going to play, he has to make up that 10,000 pounds. Everything will have to give way for that.
“With that intention he has to go (next week) to those three Pro Tours as well. Not that it’s ‘just’ a floor tournament.
“There must be rock-solid performances now. So you can’t be satisfied if you haven’t almost made up that 10,000-pound deficit already.”
In 12 Players Championship events, Van Gerwen has crashed out in eight first-round matches and looks set to finish the year without a single event win for the first time since 2011.
World No. 3 Van Gerwen was beaten 6-2 by Callan Rydz in his last Players Championship outing earlier this month.
The Dutchman bounced back by winning the World Series of Darts final against Luke Littler.
But ‘Mighty Mike’ was critical of himself at the Hungarian Darts Trophy this week, despite beating Matthew Dennant 6-2 in his opening game.
He explained: “When you’re playing c*** you have to face yourself.
“When things aren’t good you always have to be honest, and I’m an honest guy.
“Especially when you want to play well and then you don’t, it gets harder.
“You’re frustrated for no reason because there was no reason to panic or to be miserable with myself, do you know what I mean?
“But this wasn’t a good performance. Simple as that. I think this crowd deserved more.”
Van Gerwen would go on to lose 6-5 to compatriot Danny Noppert in the next round.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
