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wb michael van gerwen Looking back in 2025, it’s unlikely he’ll do so fondly.
a year that began With a crushing defeat of 7-3 for an inevitable luke littler In World Darts Championship The final soon turned sour – affecting him equally badly.
In May, he announced his divorce from wife Daphne after more than 10 years of marriage Pulled out of several darts tournaments Over the summer she tried to adjust to her changed circumstances, which she later described as “messy”, and establish a new normal for her two children.
His father, Henry, is also battling cancer, and so it was no surprise that the 36-year-old missed qualifying For the Players Championship final in Minehead last month, he instead opted to go on holiday with his children.
Amidst the darkness, there were flashes of particularly bright light Ending two-year major title drought By winning the World Series Finals in September, which helped them Return to Alexandra Palace this week As the third seed, behind only the seemingly unbeatable Littler and his nearest rival, Luke Humphries,
Van Gerwen is refreshingly candid about his position, taking on questions with matter-of-fact clarity but happily allowing his vulnerability to emerge.
“I’m fine,” he says before checking himself out a bit. “I’ve had a tough year. Everyone knows it’s been a really tough year for me, in and outs. But you have to adjust yourself, you have to adapt yourself.
“You need to try to find a new balance in your life. It’s not that easy, but you can’t look back. That doesn’t help anymore. You have to look forward.”
“I hope [the worst of] It’s behind me. I’ll try to go to Worlds with all this behind me. It’s not that easy, but you have to try to do the best you can for yourself.
“This is 100 percent a new chapter. A chapter that I have never faced in my life. So I am saying that you need to find a new balance in life. When I am at home now, and the kids are there, I have to take care of them. It is not like I have a wife who helps you. It is all new for me. He will come into his place. It takes time, but I know that I am capable of doing that.”
As one of the Netherlands’ biggest sporting stars, Van Gerwen has had to face intrusion into his private life from the Dutch press – something he would not like but which he accepts.
He further added, “I still read it, every day of the week in newspapers, on news channels, they try to find something or the other.” “Unless I have a relationship, they try to find stories or something.
“But it’s just the way it is, darts are more popular now. Tall trees take in a lot of wind, you know. It’s just the way it is.”
Van Gerwen’s confidence in Oche’s ability never wavered. Why should that be, because he is a three-time world champion who has the most impressive power in darts.
As he prepares to begin his 2026 World Championship campaign, which begins against Japan’s Mitsuhiko Tatsunami on Thursday evening, he is currently trading as the sixth favorite to win the title with bookmakers. Even if he can regain his form, the potential path to a return to the final – and a possible rematch with Littler – is fraught with obstacles.
After a potential second-round clash with Irishman William O’Connor, “Mighty Mike” could face former world champions Peter Wright and Gary Anderson in the third and fourth rounds before a quarter-final against fellow Dutchman, world No. 6 Danny Noppert or young talent Josh Rock.
After this, Luke may be awaited in both the semi-finals and finals. A fourth world title will be hard won, but Van Gerwen generally maintains that he is the man everyone still wants to avoid in the draw, given his pedigree.
“Yes, of course,” he insists. “Ask Luke Littler who he doesn’t want to play with. He’ll definitely say my name. A hundred percent. And if he says no, he’s lied. That’s just the way it is.
“The bookmakers have gotten it wrong many times before, so let me do it again. I don’t need to remind anyone. Everyone knows what I’m capable of.”
“The world is a different creature. The world out here, it’s a different kind of pressure, atmosphere, attention, everything, so we’re going to see what’s going to happen there. This tournament is tough to win, everyone knows that.”
As a littler-induced surge As darts continue to be pushed into the mainstream of the game, prize money continues to increase. When Van Gerwen last won the world title in 2019, he banked £500,000. This year, the champion will take home £1 million.
With such a financial reward on offer, could the pressure of hitting that last double in the final force him to crack?
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“Sure, the money is nice. The money is dirty, but the money doesn’t drive me. It’s nice to have it, but for me, the joy of the game drives me, not the money. It’s easy to have the money, but yes, it’s about the legacy, 100 percent.”
Having now competed at the top of the darting world for the best part of 15 years, Van Gerwen is in a good position to opine on the state of the sport compared to the past.
The littlr glow currently engulfing the game has led many to proclaim it a golden age of darts, but in typically candid fashion, the Dutchman points to a different era as the pinnacle.
“I still believe the Premier League I was in with Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, James Wade, Raymond van Barneveld and Peter Wright was the strongest,” he explains.
“But don’t get it wrong, people love Humphries and Littler now [Nathan] Aspinol on his day, or [Gerwyn] For the price, it’s still great to look at. But I think we had more characters at that time. I don’t know, it’s up to other people to decide whether it was better or worse.”
A fourth PDC world title would put MVG at least twice ahead of every darts player in history not named Phil Taylor and, even with his 40th birthday in mind, he is still striving to improve while avoiding regrets.
“I have to be very self-reflective,” says Van Gerwen. “When you don’t do very well, when you make a mistake, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and blame yourself too. I’m the first person to blame myself.
“But what can you do after that? You gain nothing by looking back but you always learn. The day you are not learning any more is the day you have to stop.”
Van Gerwen is certainly not stopping any time soon, and shrugging off his annual horror by lifting the trophy once again on the Ally Pally stage would be a suitable springboard into 2026.