In the thunderous roar of Dortmund’s Westfalenhallen, where the air crackles with the sharp thwack of darts hitting triple 20s, Michael van Gerwen once again danced on the edge of glory—and stumbled back from the brink. The three-time world champion, whose name has long been synonymous with darts dominance, clawed his way to the semi-finals of the 2025 European Championship, a gritty display that hinted at the fire still smoldering within “Mighty Mike.” But as the dust settled on Gian van Veen’s triumphant coronation, it was van Gerwen’s old comrade Vincent van der Voort who pierced the post-match euphoria with a sobering truth: the road back to the summit remains riddled with uncertainty. “Hij kan nog niet goed omgaan met die klapjes,” van der Voort observed pointedly in a recent episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast—”He’s not yet handling those setbacks.” For a man who’s conquered the oche like few others, these words cut deep, exposing the vulnerabilities of a legend grappling with more than just missed doubles.
Van Gerwen’s European Championship run was a rollercoaster of redemption laced with rust. Kicking off with a nail-biting last-leg decider against fellow Dutchman Wessel Nijman, the 36-year-old from ‘s-Hertogenbosch survived a heart-stopping scare. Trailing 4-2, van Gerwen watched as the young gun squandered seven match darts under the arena’s glaring lights, only for Mighty Mike to snatch victory on the final leg. It was a reprieve that echoed his storied career—seven PDC world titles, a record seven Premier League triumphs, and a trophy cabinet groaning under the weight of majors like the World Grand Prix and The Masters. Yet, as van der Voort dissected the drama, the win felt more like survival than supremacy. “Tegen Wessel moet hij 6-4 maken en de wedstrijd op slot gooien,” the 50-year-old van der Voort remarked, his voice heavy with the candor of a friend who’s shared the stage for two decades. “He has to close out 6-4 against Wessel and seal the match.” Instead, van Gerwen let the pressure seep in, a pattern that would haunt him deeper into the tournament.
The semi-final against van Veen laid bare the chinks in his armor. For the first ten legs, van Gerwen was the predator, his darts slicing through the air with predatory precision. Van der Voort, watching intently, painted a vivid picture of what could have been: “Hij vond zelf dat het 9-1 had moeten staan, maar ik denk dat 7-3 een betere schets van het verhaal was geweest,” he said. “He thought it should have been 9-1 himself, but I think 7-3 is a better sketch of the story. Van Veen came out really lucky against him.” The underdog escaped, capitalizing on van Gerwen’s sudden scoring droughts in the closing stages. “In die laatste legs viel Van Gerwen telkens scorend helemaal weg,” van der Voort continued. “Eerst stond hij er dan weer een leg later, maar dat is ’m nu nog niet helemaal.”—”In those last legs, Van Gerwen kept completely disappearing in scoring. He’d be there one leg later, but it’s not quite there for him yet.” It wasn’t a collapse of skill—Mighty Mike’s arsenal remains lethal—but a faltering rhythm, a hesitation in the clutch that screamed of deeper turmoil. “Daaraan zie je dat hij nog een beetje onzeker is,” van der Voort added, underscoring the uncertainty that lingers like a shadow. “You can see from that he’s still a bit unsure.”
This isn’t mere tournament jitters; it’s the culmination of a year that’s tested van Gerwen’s unbreakable facade. Off the board, the hits have come relentlessly. A high-profile separation from his wife Daphne after 11 years shattered the stability that once fueled his empire, leaving him to navigate co-parenting two young children amid the chaos of the pro circuit. “I’m just human, you know,” van Gerwen admitted in a raw interview with Dutch outlet AD, his words a quiet admission of the toll. Compounding the heartbreak, his father Henri’s ongoing battle with cancer has forced Mighty Mike to confront mortality, pulling him away from practice sessions for family vigils. On the professional front, 2025 has been a drought unlike any in his glittering career. No major titles since his World Series of Darts triumph over Luke Littler in September 2024—a two-year TV drought that’s gnawed at his world No. 3 ranking. Withdrawals piled up: a bizarre afternoon mishap sidelined him from the Premier League in Berlin and the International Darts Open in Riesa; flu and viruses derailed early momentum; and a deliberate skip of the World Cup of Darts for an Ibiza getaway with his kids drew raised eyebrows. “You’re not going to regain form by taking a vacation,” van der Voort chided bluntly on the podcast, his concern laced with tough love. “For a comeback, he’ll need to train hard. He has to put in the work—there’s no shortcut.”
Van der Voort’s worry runs deeper than results; it’s personal. The pair, bonded by Dutch grit and decades of rivalry-turned-friendship, have shared laughs and losses since van der Voort’s heyday in the early 2000s. Now, with van der Voort himself sidelined without a Tour Card, he watches his protégé’s unraveling with a father’s anguish. “You can tell he puts on a brave face in public, but behind that there’s emptiness. It’s all hitting him,” he confided earlier this month, his voice cracking the stoic veneer of darts commentary. Van Gerwen’s Premier League woes—zero night wins, a miracle needed for playoffs—mirror a broader slide. Early exits in Euro Tour events, a single ranking title all year, and mounting prize money deficits threaten his spot at the Players Championship Finals. “Hij mag het zichzelf wel aanrekenen dat hij de halve finale nog liet glippen tegen Van Veen,” van der Voort insisted. “He can blame himself for letting the semi-final slip against Van Veen.” Yet, amid the critique, there’s unwavering faith in the talent. “Despite the setbacks, his talent and experience are not in question,” van der Voort affirmed, echoing the sentiment that Mighty Mike’s lows are temporary eclipses of an enduring star.
As the Grand Slam of Darts looms in November, van Gerwen’s path forward demands introspection and iron will. The sport he helped explode—now a global spectacle packed with prodigies like Littler and van Veen—waits to see if the Green Machine can recalibrate. Van der Voort’s verdict is clear: recovery hinges on mastering the mental minefield. “Too many things are going wrong for him to build any sort of momentum,” he warned of earlier campaigns, a caution that resonates today. But in Dortmund’s semi-final grit, there were flickers of the old fire—the 100+ averages, the crowd-roaring checkouts. For van Gerwen, whose legacy includes revolutionizing darts with his explosive style and unyielding drive, this uncertainty isn’t defeat; it’s a detour. As he eyes the playoffs and beyond, the question burns: Can Mighty Mike turn setbacks into setups? Van der Voort believes he can, but only if he confronts the “klapjes”—the blows—with the same ferocity that once made him untouchable. In a year of fractures, van Gerwen’s next throw could mend them all—or widen the cracks.
Leave a Reply