In the high-stakes world of professional darts, where every throw can swing fortunes and the oche is a battlefield of tungsten and willpower, few names evoke the thunder of dominance like Michael van Gerwen. The Dutch powerhouse, a three-time PDC World Champion and once the unchallenged king of the sport from 2014 to 2021, has long been synonymous with explosive averages, ruthless checkouts, and a glare that could freeze lava. But as September 2025 draws to a close, the 36-year-old “Green Machine” finds himself in uncharted territory: teetering outside the top 100 in the crucial Players Championship Order of Merit, with his prized spot in the prestigious Players Championship Finals hanging by a thread. In a move that’s rippling through the darts community like a poorly aimed 180, van Gerwen is reportedly set to withdraw from next week’s Swiss Darts Trophy in Basel—a dramatic schedule shake-up aimed at laser-focusing his energies on clawing back into contention before it’s too late.
It’s a far cry from the glory days when van Gerwen ruled with an iron fist, amassing a staggering 166 professional titles worldwide, including a record 90 PDC Pro Tour victories that cemented him as the second-most decorated player behind the legendary Phil Taylor. His arsenal— a lightning-quick release, unerring accuracy on the treble 20, and a penchant for nine-dart finishes—once made him untouchable. Yet, the 2025 season has been a cruel unraveling for the Eindhoven native. Injuries to his foot and shoulder earlier in the year sidelined him at key moments, forcing withdrawals and sapping the fire that defined his prime. A heartbreaking 7-3 loss to teenage sensation Luke Littler in the PDC World Darts Championship final back in January—where Littler shattered records to become the youngest champion ever at 18—set a tone of vulnerability. Van Gerwen averaged a respectable 100 but squandered 24 of 38 doubles attempts, a finishing drought that haunted him through a string of inconsistent showings.
The slump deepened over the summer. In the Premier League Darts, he clung to fourth place by a razor-thin margin over Nathan Aspinall, but faltered with just two finals from 14 nights, including a first-round humbling by world No. 1 Luke Humphries in Leeds. Pro Tour events, the lifeblood of ranking points, turned treacherous: a shock defeat to Callan Rydz in his last Players Championship outing earlier this month left him scraping just £10,500 in prize money from the floor events so far. That’s a paltry sum in a circuit where consistency is currency, landing him at a precarious No. 103 in the Players Championship standings. Only the top 64 qualify for the November showdown in Minehead—a £500,000 showpiece where van Gerwen has twice lifted the trophy, most recently in 2022. Miss it, and the psychological blow could echo louder than any crowd roar at Alexandra Palace.
Enter the pivot: skipping the Swiss Darts Trophy, a non-ranking European Tour event that, while lucrative, offers no direct boost to his Pro Tour merit. The decision, first floated by fellow Dutchman and close friend Vincent van der Voort on the Darts Draait Door podcast, underscores the urgency. “That’s where the focus is now,” van der Voort declared, pinpointing the upcoming Players Championship in Leicester next weekend as van Gerwen’s make-or-break lifeline. To surge into the top 64, he’ll need to at least double his earnings— a tall order, but not impossible for a player whose highs include a blistering 110.94 average in that World Championship final. Van der Voort didn’t mince words on the stakes: van Gerwen must deliver “rock-solid performances” to avoid a slide that could see him plummet further, potentially jeopardizing seeded spots in majors like the World Matchplay or Grand Slam of Darts.
Yet, amid the gloom, glimmers of resurgence flicker. Just weeks ago, in the electric atmosphere of Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, van Gerwen dethroned Littler 11-7 in the World Series of Darts Finals—his first top-tier title in two long years. It was a masterclass in redemption: breaking Littler’s throw at 7-6 after a crowd distraction rattled the teen, then sealing it with a spectacular 130 checkout. Tears streamed down his face as he clutched the trophy on home soil, the victory a cathartic roar against his demons. “This is amazing,” van Gerwen said, his voice thick with emotion. “We all know where I am coming from and the difficulty I have had in the last few months. To do this in front of your home crowd it means a lot to me.” He paused, eyes gleaming under the lights, before adding with quiet fire, “I hope this is the beginning of a bright future for me.” That win not only netted £80,000 but secured his berth in October’s European Championship, a small mercy in a season of storms.
Friends like van der Voort paint a picture of a man wrestling with more than mechanics—self-belief has waned, aggression dulled. “When I see how things are going, the belief just isn’t there,” van der Voort confided on the podcast. “His presence is lacking, there’s no aggression or passion in his game. It’s just about throwing at the board and hoping for the best.” Echoes of earlier woes, like his May withdrawal from Players Championship 16 in Hildesheim due to a “crisis of self-belief,” linger. Van Gerwen himself has been candid about the toll: “I still have the fire in my belly. The anger is still there when you don’t perform 100 per cent,” he admitted after tweaking his dart setup in a bid for comfort. “It’s not the most pleasant moment in my career. I’ll never give up. I’ll fight for everything. I know it’s still there. You don’t lose talent like that.”
This isn’t just a personal crisis; it’s a seismic shift for darts. Van Gerwen’s potential fade risks tilting the sport’s balance toward the new guard—Littler, Humphries, and Aspinall—who’ve feasted on his vulnerabilities. At world No. 3 overall (a testament to his two-year prize money rolling average), he’s still a titan, but the Pro Tour rankings expose the cracks. Fans, ever loyal, flood forums with pleas: “MVG needs to channel that Amsterdam magic,” one Reddit thread buzzes, while X erupts with memes of his iconic fist-pumps juxtaposed against recent misses. Analysts speculate on tweaks—perhaps more rest, a return to his signature darts, or mental coaching to reignite the predator within.
As Leicester looms, van Gerwen’s path is clear: storm the Pro Tour, rack up wins, and storm back into Minehead’s elite. The Swiss pullout is a calculated risk, trading immediate glory for long-term survival. In darts, where legends are forged in the flicker of fluorescent lights and the thud of darts into sisal, van Gerwen’s story is far from over. This dramatic recalibration isn’t defeat—it’s defiance. The Green Machine may be idling, but rev the engine right, and he’ll roar back to remind the world why he’s Gerwen: gone, perhaps, from his peak perch, but never out. With the autumn majors beckoning—the BoyleSports World Grand Prix in October, where he’s a perennial threat—the question hangs like a waiting dart: Can he hit double top on his comeback? The oche awaits, and so does history.
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