Michael van Gerwen knocked out of World Grand Prix by Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen has been knocked out of the World Grand Prix by fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode.
The Green Machine was whitewashed in the first set by Van Duijvenbode, who was absolutely relentless. His former World Cup of Darts partner nearly whitewashed him completely, but missed a double 20 which would have seen him complete a whitewash victory with a magnificent 145 finish.
Van Gerwen threatened a comeback when he came back from 2-0 down in the second set to level 2-2. However, Van Duijvenbode finished the contest on double 10 while Van Gerwen was left marooned on 150.
It’s a huge disappointment for the World No. 3, as he had been putting together a strong run of form. He overcame Luke Littler 11-7 in the World Series final to lift his first televised title in two years on September 14.
However, he struggled from the off against Van Duijvenbode, who was relentless in Leicester. His loss to his fellow countryman means he has not won a match at the World Grand Prix 2023.
While this year’s exit was not quite as humiliating as his pummelling at the hands of Daryl Gurney last year, it’s still a painful result for the darts legend. Last year, Gurney whitewashed Van Gerwen without dropping a single leg against the six-time winner of the competition.
Van Gerwen was at least able to get on the board against Van Duijvenbode, not that it would be much consolation for one of the greatest players to ever step onto the oche. Before his loss this evening, Van Gerwen had never gone three years without winning the competition since his first victory in 2012.
Unfortunately for him, his power-scoring and his doubles were simply not good enough. Van Duijvenbode played well, but his statistics were not mind-blowing.
He converted six of his 17 doubles (35.29% average), averaged 86.54 overall, hit one 180 and registered a highest checkout of 80.
This is a developing news story that will be updated with relevant information as we get it. More to follow…
