After 4 weeks of Premier League Darts, ‘Mighty Mike’ was dwelling as much as his moniker.
Michael van Gerwen sat on the high of the desk on 15 factors following three nightly wins in a row, with the Dutchman victorious in Berlin, Glasgow and Newcastle.
MVG held an eight-point benefit over nearest challenger Michael Smith and already appeared nicely on his solution to a Play-Off place, one thing he has solely failed to attain as soon as within the 11 earlier editions he has appeared in.
However the seven-time Premier League champion’s prospects don’t look fairly so rosy now.
However is now clinging on to a spot within the high 4
He has solely added two factors to his tally since, with six defeats out of seven within the competitors seeing him drop to fourth, simply two factors higher off than fifth-placed Smith forward of Evening 11 in Birmingham on Thursday, stay on Sky Sports activities from 7pm.
Van Gerwen was dumped out on the first hurdle in Exeter, Brighton, Nottingham and Dublin and since snapping that shedding streak with a quarter-final victory over Smith in Belfast, he has endured successive defeats to Luke Littler, first in Northern Eire after which Manchester.
‘Van Gerwen on the precipice’
MVG’s loss to Littler final Thursday – which got here as his opponent went on to assert his second straight nightly victory – left Sky Sports activities pundit Dan Dawson suggesting his top-four spot was in jeopardy.
Dawson instructed the Love The Darts Podcast: “I do not actually know what is going on on or the place he is at. He was doing issues in that sport with Littler that I do not actually perceive.
Littler beat Van Gerwen of their quarter-final tie on Evening 10 of the Premier League in Manchester
“You count on MVG to come back good, and he did on this Premier League by successful three weeks on the trot, however he has been poor since then. Proper now, he’s sat on the precipice.
“Luke Humphries is enjoying brilliantly, Littler is enjoying brilliantly and Nathan Aspinall has leapfrogged him [as well]. He’s at risk.
“If he would not buck his concepts up, he may miss out on the Play-Offs. It has occurred earlier than however it’s a rarity.”
Van Gerwen’s malaise has not been confined to the Premier League, the place averages over 100 have often eluded him, with an early exit on the UK Open additionally amid a string of losses.
He reached the ultimate of the German Grand Prix over Easter however was then demolished 8-1 by world No 1 and world champion Humphries.
This week, he exited the 2 Gamers Championship occasions in Leicester within the second and third rounds.
Sky Sports activities’ Wayne Mardle stated: “In case you had instructed me 4 or 5 weeks in the past that Van Gerwen can be within the place he’s in now, I would not have believed you.
“Michael shouldn’t be enjoying nicely sufficient usually sufficient and he must as proper now it’s wanting dodgy for him. He did play nicely in his three nightly wins on the bounce, so was {that a} false daybreak?”
Luke Humphries claimed his sixth PDC European Tour title in spectacular fashion with an 8-1 demolition of Van Gerwen in Germany
Who’s pushing Van Gerwen for Play-Off place?
Van Gerwen, who had been hampered by a shoulder damage, wants a response in Birmingham when he takes on third-placed Aspinall within the quarter-finals, as one other poor night may see him pushed out of the highest 4 by Smith with 5 nights of the common 16-week season left to play.
Rob Cross and Gerwyn Value are additionally nonetheless within the combine, sitting six and 7 factors respectively behind Van Gerwen, with solely Peter Wright, languishing on 4 factors, realistically out of the race.
Value boosted his possibilities by reaching the ultimate in Manchester final week, along with his spotlight a nine-dart end in opposition to Smith within the semi-finals – the primary by any participant on this 12 months’s event and the third of Value’s Premier League profession after he hit two in the identical evening in Belfast in 2022.
Gerwyn Value struck a nine-darter in Manchester, the primary of the Premier League season
Desk-topper Littler (23 factors) and second-placed Humphries (22 factors) will really feel they’ve one foot within the Play-Offs already, with 24 sufficient to achieve the highest 4 in 2023.
5 factors are awarded for an total nightly win within the Premier League, three for ending runner-up and two if you’re knocked out within the semi-finals.
In case you lose your quarter-final, you permit with nothing, a state of affairs that Van Gerwen has grow to be overly conversant in in current weeks along with his hopes of a 3rd successive title taking hit after hit.
Premier League Darts continues on Thursday April 11, in Birmingham. Watch stay on Sky Sports activities Motion and Sky Sports activities Enviornment from 7pm. Stream darts and extra by NOW.
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