Michael van Gerwen suffered a painful defeat in the Premier League on Thursday evening. After he reached the final three times in the past four rounds, things now went wrong for the darter from Vlijmen in the first game of the evening. James Wade was too strong 6-2.
Van Gerwen, who seemed to suffer from the cold on stage and was blowing his hands frequently, was the absolute favorite against Wade beforehand. The five-time Premier League winner was the only darts player to win twice in the first seven rounds. Last four match days, Wade flew out in the first round every time.
But those statistics were not reflected on the podium. For MvG it was often just not enough, while Wade was extremely sharp. Van Gerwen actually never reached the level that he managed to get back to in recent weeks.
Mighty Mike was not good in scoring, so he didn’t have enough chances to win. And when he was allowed to throw on a double, he was too often on the wrong side of the iron. Van Gerwen, for example, had a good run in the fifth leg that Wade was unable to punish his misses and he eventually managed to reach 2-3 in legs with his seventh dart. In total, only fifteen percent of the arrows hit a double.
It could have been the moment of the match. Instead of 1-4 it became 2-3. But Wade didn’t suddenly lose the good feeling because of that lost leg, while Van Gerwen didn’t throw better despite a mental boost. After he managed to take his own leg, Wade then hurt his Dutch opponent by taking a second break via bullseye. Van Gerwen therefore had to win four legs in a row not to be ready in Birmingham after one match. Van Gerwen did not succeed, so he was quickly finished.
Due to the early elimination, the third of this season, Van Gerwen sees the competition getting closer in the ranking. Next week is another chance. In Leeds, the current number three in the world then starts with a match against Gary Anderson.