Van Gerwen has suffering from a shoulder injury and gave up in the Premier League on Thursday. ,,It’s something small, but it bothers me playing. So this decision was mostly a precaution. Next week I’ll be there for sure, even if I have to get on crutches,” said the Dutch number 1 referring to the play-offs in London’s O2 Arena. He also decided to start at the Pro Tour tournaments this weekend in Leicester, after shooting another demonstration last night.
In the Morningside Arena, Van Gerwen was immediately broken by his opponent from Croatia in the first leg of his first match. Partly thanks to a 110 finish Mighty Mike took control again and it became 4-2, but the Brabander couldn’t finish it. He lost the last three legs and was eliminated at Players Championship 11. Somewhat reassuring was the fact that Van Gerwen still averaged over 101 points per inning.
Raymond van Barneveld, 31st in the world ranking, had to recognize his superior in the Austrian Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, the number 84 in the world. Barney came close, but bowed his head after a decisive eleventh leg: 5-6.
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The other Dutch toppers managed to do what was expected of them in the first round. Van Duijvenbode only gave away the first leg against Conan Whitehead, while Noppert was 6-2 too strong for compatriot Ron Meulenkamp. In another ‘derby’, Vincent van der Voort emerged victorious against Danny van Trijp. Jermaine Wattimena, Chris Landman, Jimmy Hendriks, Geert Nentjes, Jermaine Wattimena, Luc Peters, Gian van Veen, Niels Zonneveld, Kevin Doets and Jurjen van der Velde also won their first round.
In the second round things went wrong for Noppert, Van Duijvenbode, Nentjes, Landman, Peters and Van Veen. Van der Voort and Wattimena lost in the third round. For Van der Velde and Doets, the eighth final was the final destination. Zonneveld did qualify for the quarterfinals. There may be a duel with Hendriks, who must first deal with James Wade.