Michael van Gerwen was in a ruthless mood following his World Darts Championship victory over Jeffrey de Graaf, as he set his sights on Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen wasn’t pulling any punches as he lashed out at darts rival Peter Wright.
The Dutch titan progressed into the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship quarter-finals with a win over Jeffrey de Graaf. He has hit bullseye for the ninth time in his past 10 stints at Ally Pally, placing him well within reach of a fourth world title win.
Van Gerwen’s route to darts glory seemed all the clearer when reigning champ Luke Humphries unexpectedly bowed out, leaving the tournament up for grabs. Pipping Humphries to the post was none other than Wright, 54, who after a year of patchy performances, returned to form with a convincing 4-1 triumph.Yet, Van Gerwen, 35, stationed on the draw’s flip side from Wright, spared no applause for the Scot’s passage to the quarter-finals, reports the Express. This frosty stance follows Wright’s unexpected endorsement of Callan Rydz, Van Gerwen’s upcoming New Year’s Day rival, as the one to beat.
In an impassioned post-game press conference, Van Gerwen mulled over the veteran’s words before delivering a scathing response: “Do I think about what Peter Wright says? Yeah, Peter Wright.”
He continued, dismissing Wright’s commentary as trivial banter and seemingly taking aim at his relationship with his hairdresser wife Joanne, who creates his famous multicoloured Mohican hairstyles and the elaborate designs painted on his head.
Van Gerwen said: “Every year at the Worlds he talks so much nonsense, Peter Wright, he’s always allowed to talk crap. Nobody takes him seriously on the Tour as well, because he’s not allowed an opinion at home.”
The Dutchman is confident that his arrows will do the talking, come a potential showdown in Friday’s finale. He reflected on his game, saying: “I was able to find an extra gear when I had to and that was really important.
“If you purely look at the average and the way I played, there’s a lot possible and I would keep playing time after time but there’s still a lot of work to do this tournament.
“I think I was in control most of the game otherwise you can’t produce sets like the fifth set you know what I mean. I was able to produce something extra when I had to and that’s the key thing.”
Luke Littler sealed yet another quarter-final berth after a sterling win over Ryan Joyce, setting himself up for a clash with Nathan Aspinall, who jokingly promised that he wouldn’t be out celebrating ‘until 8am’ on New Year’s Day before their matchup.Elsewhere, Stephen Bunting finished his year triumphantly, easing past Luke Woodhouse in straight sets, paving the way for a tantalising last-eight face-off with Wright.Meanwhile, Chris Dobey and Gerwyn Price are also gearing up to vie for a semi-final position, while Van Gerwen eyes a potential curveball match against dark horse Rydz in the fourth peak quarter-final contest.