‘I have to play better’ admits Michael van Gerwen despite winning second ProTour event in a week
- Seb Sternik
- 2 April 2022
Michael van Gerwen claimed his second Players Championship title in seven days, yet despite this, the world number three was far from happy with his performance in Barnsley.
The Dutchman was forced to produce a spectacular comeback in the final as he beat Peter Wright 8-4 to clinch the £12,000 prize.
Van Gerwen found himself 4-0 down, but reeled off eight straight legs to seal a breathtaking win.
Speaking after the victory, the 32-year-old told PDC TV: "If you look at the quarter-final, the semi-final, I had to wake up a few times.
"It was a tough day, I had to work really hard, but eventually it paid off. When I'm going, I think I play some good darts, but you want to make it for yourself a little bit easier. But to win is always the most important thing."
On his way to the title, MVG survived two match darts in his game against Ryan Meikle, and also faced a tricky contest against two-time world champion Adrian Lewis.
"You put yourself into a position you don't have to be in," added the Dutchman. "You make unnecessary problems for yourself with missing doubles and not hitting the right scores at the right moments.
"But the most important thing on days like this is you have to survive game by game. There's so many good darts players here on the tour, you have to beat them all. It's not easy, but I managed to do it today.
"𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀."
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 2, 2022
Michael van Gerwen reflects on his Players Championship Ten title win before making a quick getaway to fly home for his son's birthday! pic.twitter.com/lGDMhZFy0X
"I know Peter when he's throwing and relaxing, he is a phenomenal player," said MVG. "We all know that. That's why he's also top of the table [in the Premier League].
"When you put him under pressure and when you get your chances, you have to take them. Then you can make it a bit difficult. I think that's exactly what I did. I think I can do more but I think this was enough."
Despite his efforts, Van Gerwen admitted he wasn't at his best. He said: "I didn't feel good at all today to be fair. If I just looked at my own performance today, I just think I had a couple of good games but overall, I wasn't really there.
"I didn't feel really well but I win, and that's the most important thing for myself. This is the third title of this year, I've won more tournaments this year already than last year altogether so that's good for myself."
When asked about potentially going on a trophy-hunt over the next few weeks and months, the world number three said: "Yeah, but I have to play a bit better than this. Of course, today against Ryan Meike, he had two match darts, I wasn't sure today.
"You have to put on you're 'A game' every game, round by round, throw by throw, you can't afford any mistakes. It's a long day but I'm glad I won."
