Michael van Gerwen has started the Darts World Cup well. The three-time world champion won the first match in London’s Alexandra Palace quite easily against the Englishman James Hurrell on Friday evening. He triumphed 3-0 in sets and allowed his opponent only three legs in the entire match.
At the start of the match, Van Gerwen immediately showed that the competition must take him into account again during this World Cup. He averaged almost 100 with three darts and completed all his doubles with one dart. Hurrell couldn’t shake him: 3-1.
In style
‘Mighty Mike’ also started the second set in style, with a beautiful eleven darter. He extended that lead to 2-0, but then some sloppiness crept into his game. Van Gerwen missed six darts on a double, but was given a second chance due to a miscalculation by Hurrell, who accidentally threw 140 instead of throwing out. ‘MVG’ then also took this set via the double six: 3-1.
The third set also went to the Vlijmen resident 3-1.
Van Gerwen, who was drawn in the first round, will not play his next match until after Christmas. He will then meet the winner of the match between the Englishman Brendan Dolan and the Hong Konger Lee Lok-Yin.
Not his best year
Van Gerwen is aiming for his fourth world title in London. He has already won three, but his last was almost six years ago.
‘MVG’ did not have its best year in the professional circuit in 2024. He didn’t win a single major tournament. In November he was even eliminated in the group stage during the Grand Slam of Darts Tournament and in the same period he suffered a painful defeat in the first round in the Players Championship Finals.
Intensive approach
Van Gerwen opted for an intensive approach in the last weeks of preparation and that certainly paid off in the match against Hurrell. The Vlijmenaar threw the arrows into most of them legs flawless. He hit no less than fifty percent of his doubles.
The short series of misses in the second set did not throw him off balance, while his opponent was constantly looking for edge and often hesitated when throwing.
Van Gerwen was ‘one hundred percent relieved’ after the match, he told Viaplay afterwards. “You have to get through that first match and I succeeded. There was a lot of pressure on me because it didn’t go so well this year. It didn’t quite work out, because I gave that boy too many chances, but I I can continue with this. I was sharp on the doubles and did not feel insecure for a moment. It is better for me not to start the tournament with a rush, because the past has shown that things often end badly.”