By Dylan MacIsaac on 180UK Debut
‘Mighty Mike’ has been an unstoppable force in the modern era of darts. Hearing ‘Seven Nation Army’ by the White Stripes playing as he enters the stage is one of the most iconic and intimidating sights in the game.
With three World titles and a record breaking seven Premier Leagues under his belt, the Dutch dartist is seen by many as the second best to ever play the game behind the legendary Phil Taylor.
Born in Boxtel, Netherlands on the 25th of April 1989, Van Gerwen started playing darts regularly at age 13 and a meteoric rise saw him win the World Masters in 2006 and hit his first televised nine darter just four years into his darting journey.
He was the youngest in history to achieve both feats. This success led him to leave behind the British Darts Organisation (BDO) following the 2007 World Championship final at Lakeside to join the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
After a barren period for his standards, he picked up his first PDC title in 2009 at the Players Championship in Taunton with a 6-3 victory over compatriot Vincent van der Voort. Despite picking up more wins, another three years passed before his first major title when he was victorious at the 2012 World Grand Prix, fighting back from 4-1 down to defeat Mervyn King. He rode the wave to take the next week’s Players Championship which included a 113 average in the semi-final.
He finished the season on 8 wins and kicked on at the following World Championships in 2013 to reach his first final. Despite a 7-4 loss to the great Phil Taylor denying him his maiden world title, he still stole the headlines when he missed double 12 to hit back-to-back nine-darters in his semi-final win over James Wade. It is still widely regarded as one of the best spells of darts ever seen.
2013 kept getting better for MVG as he snapped up his first of seven Premier League titles with a 10-8 win over Taylor. He took another major that year at the Players Championship final but finally ticked off the biggest prize of them all the following year.
His 2014 World Championship triumph made him the youngest ever winner of the Sid Waddell trophy at just 24 years old with a 7-4 win over Peter Wright that propelled him to number one in the world for the first time. His record has since been beaten by the teenage sensation Luke Littler, but it is an outstanding feat nonetheless.
Amidst his dominant spell, he made history with a record-shattering average of 123.40 in the 2016 Premier League against Michael Smith, a record that stands to this day.
Van Gerwen went on to claim the 2017 and 2019 world titles with wins over Gary Anderson and Smith respectively. He has made the final on four other occasions, most notably a rematch against Smith that produced the iconic leg dubbed ‘the best leg in history’ where both Michaels had a shot at a 9-darter, with Van Gerwen missing and Smith hitting.
A run to year’s final with an eventual loss to Littler proved to any doubters that the Dutchman isn’t going anywhere, and he is poised at number 3 in the PDC rankings for another big year.