Michael van Gerwen has been eliminated in the first round of the World Matchplay darts in Blackpool. That is one of the most important tournaments of the darts association PDC. The defending champion from Vlijmen went down against Brendan Dolan.
Van Gerwen did not start the game well. The first three legs all went to the Northern Irishman, including via a nice 82 finish. The fourth put captured ‘MVG’, but because the next turn was another prey for Dolan, Van Gerwen went into the first break trailing 4-1.
Impress
Immediately after the break impressed Van Gerwen with a nice 132 finish. Then ‘Mighty Mike’ – because Dolan missed several opportunities to throw out – came back to 5-5. The game then seemed to tip in Van Gerwen’s favor, but a 75 finish and two strong 62 throws once again led Dolan to walk away from him.
A handsome eleven-dart finish brought the Vlijmenaar back to 9-7, but in the put then Dolan decided the game after all by throwing out double 3.
‘I feel gutted’
It is the first time since 2006 that the defending champion has fallen in the first round of the World Matchplay. At the time, this happened to the Englishman Colin Lloyd. Van Gerwen therefore spoke of a disappointing evening after his elimination. “I feel gutted about this defeat, but Brendan did well.”
Last week, ‘MVG’ won the World Series at Darts tournament in Poland, despite suffering from the after-effects of dental surgery.