Michael van Gerwen has revealed he will return home immediately after crashing out of the World Darts Championship with a 4-1 defeat against old rival Gary Anderson.
The highly-anticipated round four match at Alexandra Palace saw Anderson, 55, storm to a two-set lead against three-time world champion Van Gerwen, who struggled to find his rhythm in an uncharacteristically poor display at the oche.
Despite Van Gerwen pulling a set back, Anderson – who lifted successive world titles in 2015 and 2016 – kept his nerve to see out the match and book his place in a quarter-final against English debutant Justin Hood.
Van Gerwen, who appeared to congratulate Anderson when the two long-standing rivals embraced after the match, blamed himself for the dismal performance and revealed he will waste no time before returning home to the Netherlands tomorrow.
‘From the start of the match, I let myself down in key moments,’ he told a group of Dutch journalists after the match on Tuesday, according to NU.nl.
‘You can look at someone else, but in this defeat, I’m the culprit. I thought I was playing pretty well, but I had to put him in the right position.
Michael van Gerwen blames himself aftter crashing out of the World Darts Championship
The Dutchman suffered a 4-1 defeat against Gary Anderson at the Ally Pally on Tuesday
‘It should have been 2-2 in sets. I sold myself short. You might still lose if it’s 2-2, but 4-1 really wasn’t necessary.’
Looking ahead to 2026, he said: ‘I know better than anyone that it’s going to be a very important year. I’m not running away from that. I’ve never looked at the rankings and I don’t now either. It doesn’t interest me. I just have to perform.
‘I’m going home tomorrow and will have some rest. After that, I’ll be throwing again in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. I’ll be doing that with renewed energy, because I know what I’m capable of. It hurts that I don’t always show it, but I won’t give up. Ever.’
Tuesday’s defeat to Anderson means Van Gerwen will leave the World Darts Championship before New Year’s Eve for the first time in 10 years, excluding 2021 when he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a positive COVID test.
His Ally Pally exit marks the close of a turbulent year for Van Gerwen both on and away from the oche.
Earlier this year, the Dutchman announced he was separating from his wife Daphne Govers, who has since begun a new relationship with her new boyfriend Robert and this week publicly revealed they are having a baby together. She has retrospectively labelled the interview a ‘mistake’.
Robert confirmed in the Dutch television interview that he and Daphne had known each other ‘for a long time’ and had ‘always clicked’ before the start of their relationship.
The interview also saw Daphne share details about the ‘miracle’ child she and her new boyfriend are set to welcome in January – eight months after her May separation.
He has previously labelled 2025 his ‘worst’ year – and it ended in disappointment at the oche
Van Gerwen revealed he has separated from his wife Daphne Govers earlier this year
‘I didn’t expect it. I was at the hospital with the other two, too,’ she told Shownieuws. ‘I couldn’t have gotten pregnant naturally. If it does happen, it’ll be a miracle.
‘My world was completely turned upside down. How am I going to handle this? But in the end, it all worked out. It’s more than welcome.’
Van Gerwen, who has been vocal about struggling since his separation from Daphne, was pictured leaving his hotel with a mystery brunette on Monday and shared an embrace with the woman as her bag was packed into a car before leaving.
Daily Mail Sport understands the woman is a partner of one of Van Gerwen’s friends who was supporting him at Ally Pally before his round four exit.
The three-time PDC world champion previously admitted that 2025 has been his ‘worst year’, telling Dutch newspaper AD in May that ‘at some point, you want to think about nice things again, not just be preoccupied with the mess you’re experiencing at that moment’.
Anderson admitted Van Gerwen’s form was uncharacteristically poor after the match, having watched the Dutchman continually squander a handful of crucial doubles.
‘I think I was rotten. Michael was rotten,’ he said, admitting the pair had both played far better in the past.
‘I knew Michael can miss a few doubles but not that many. So, we pinched it at the end. Happy to get through.
Daphne and her new boyfriend Robert broke their silence in an interview on Dutch television – revealing they are expecting a ‘miracle’ child just eight months after she split from Van Gerwen
Anderson admitted Van Gerwen’s form was uncharacteristically poor after the match
‘I was fired up, aye. I never felt right when we got on the stage. I don’t think Michael felt right either.
‘I think I was trying to feed off him and vice versa. He hit rubbish, I hit rubbish. I hit a 180, he followed it with a 180.
‘It was just one of those games. I’m sweaty there. I know what he is like, once he gets his nose in front of you, he’s a hard man to catch.’