Confidence is a word that’s automatically associated with Michael Van Gerwen and he had it in abundance during his third round 4-1 set victory against German debutant, Arno Merk. It continued to radiate from him as he sat down to talk to the media; cracking a few jokes and chucking in the occasional wink in there also.
Van Gerwen seemed pleased with his performance and game himself a fair ranking of a seven or eight out of ten. However, he was keen to stress throughout that he’s capable of producing even better darts and want to continuously improve.
He will have to bring his A game in his next tie against two time world champion Gary Anderson as the old foe awaits him in the round of 16.
“I expect a lot form that game because Gary is playing some impressive darts and like every one is saying, the old Gary is back.
“He’s averaging 102/103 and I’m averaging about 99/100 and I’m just doing okay. So, I feel like that’s a good sign for me.
“I’m really looking forward to playing against him because when you play Gary there’s always room for fireworks.”
Van Gerwen hopes the match up will bring the best out of him and says that the crowd deserves a good game. Their previous encounters have been typically box office viewing, so there’s no reason why Sunday’s tie would be any different.
As Rob Cross alluded to in his post-match interview after beating Martin Schindler, Van Gerwen is unstoppable in his pomp.
However, ‘Mighty Mike’ has underachieved by his own standards in recent times and was asked if he had changed anything, as his throw looks back to its smooth self again.
He said: “the last 18 months wasn’t the most easy 18 months of my life, and you need to adjust yourself sometimes and when everything balances out.
“You’re not going to lose your talent… but you know you need to find it back and keep battling.”
When asked why he thinks himself and Anderson bring out the best in each other the Dutchman simply replied with:
“Because we are two really good darts players.
“We’ve known each other a very long time. I think the first time I played Gary Anderson was 22/23 years ago.
“We know exactly what we have to do to each other, to beat each other.
“We’ve had so many great battles so I hope we’re going to have another great battle in two days’ time.”
Although, Van Gerwen said himself that he’s been on the darts circuit for an awfully long time, it was clear to see how much ‘The Green Machine’ still loves the game, so much so, he made a bold statement, saying:
“If I can’t enjoy games like this anymore, that’s the day I’m going to retire. That’s a promise.”
Van Gerwen again reminded us that he’s still got a lot left in the tank but when he was told about Anderson’s plan to play until he’s 60-years-old, he lightly remarked whilst sipping on his hot drink:
“Gary has said so much crap in his life, so I don’t believe him anymore!
“He retires every year.”
However, the three time world champion followed it up with:
“To have Gary playing is always a pleasure because I think he’s good for darts, the way, how he plays, he’s a phenomenal dart player its as simple as that.”
Van Gerwen had a few laughs, commenting that he had “lots of secrets”, saying that he’ll keep playing darts as he loves the game (“as long as they keep raising the prize money”),and added that that “German players should practice with him more often”, as a way to improve their consistency.
He then jokingly handed out some invaluable tips by suggesting them to “go on the practice board” as an alternative solution.
The extremely entertaining interview was rounded off with MVG explaining why he’s adopted a healthy lifestyle as a way to keep up and stressed the importance of it.
His mouthwatering round of 16 tie against Gary Anderson will take place on Sunday 30th December. It certainly won’t be one to be missed!