Michael van Gerwen, also known as Mighty Mike, is one of the best darts players worldwide. He is currently ranked as the third darts player in the world and he has been the world’s number one player between 2014 and 2021. Michale was three times a PDC World Champion, in 2014, 2017, and 2019. Learn more about this darts myth, his throwing style, and victories.
Michael Van Gerwen was born in Boxtel, the Netherlands, on 25 April 1989. The first sport he took up was actually football. Michael played as a defender until the age of 12. Afterward, he started developing a passion for darts. At 13, he was already practicing darts regularly and at 14 (in 2003), he managed to get in the final of the Primus Masters Youth competition. Afterward, came a long series of victories in youth darts competitions, including the Dutch National Youth Championship, which he won in 2006, German Open, Northern Ireland Open, German Gold Cup, Norway Open, Swedish Open.
Before he was 18, Michael had already won several Open titles and managed to enter the BDO/WDF World Rankings. In 2006, he became the youngest player to win the Winmau World Masters. In 2007, Michael announced he would switch from the BDO (British Darts Organization) to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The 2007 edition of the UK Open marked Michael’s televised PDC debut.
At the annual awards dinner in 2011, Michael was named the Young Player of the Year. 2012 vas Michael’s breakthrough year. This is when he won the World Grand Prix title in Dubai against Mervyn King (6-4), which represented his first major PDC victory. Moreover, this victory came with a consistent prize of ₤100,000. That year was one of the most prominent periods in his career. If at the beginning of 2012, Michael was ranked the 38th player in the world, at the end of the year, he managed to become the 4th darter worldwide.
Another pivotal moment in his career also took place in 2012 when he participated in the Grand Slam of Darts and managed to win all three games of his group and to compete with Phil Taylor in the last 16. The game he played against Taylor was one of the most stunning darts events of the year. Michael himself described it as the best in his career. The game ended with a 10-5 triumph.
In 2013, Van Gerwen entered the World Championship as the second favorite, being second to Phil Taylor. His performance in this tournament enabled him to become the 4th player on the Order of Merit and granted him a place in the Premier League. 2013 PDC awards saw Michael winning three important awards: PDPA Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, and Fans' Player of the Year.
In the 2013 Premier League, Michael became the first player besides Phil Taylor who managed to finish top of the league and he was the 4th player to win the Premier League. The same year, he also won the European Darts Open in Germany, followed by another victory at the Dubai Darts Masters. 2013 was also a prolific year. Michael finished as the top seed in the Players Championship Finals.
In the 2014 World Championship, Michael Van Gerwen marked various victories, and became the new world number one player, at only 24, which also made him the youngest world champion. Other trophies won in 2014 include the ProTour Player of the Year, the PDC Player of the Year, and the Fans' Player of the Year. The same year, in the opening of the Premier League, Michael marked the first whitewash over Taylor.
In 2015, Van Gerwen managed to reach the semi-finals of the 2015 World Championship. This was also the year when he won the 2015 Unibet Masters, the German Darts Championship, the UK Open (with his highest televised average – 114.91), the Dubai Darts Masters, his first World Matchplay title. The same year, he won his fourth televised award at the Players Championship Finals, defeating Adrian Lewis 11-6.
In 2016’s Premier League, Michael broke the televised average record when he defeated Michael Smith with a 7-1 victory and a record of 123.40. That was also the year when he won the second consecutive time the World Matchplay title and marked a record average of 100.29 at the World Grand Prix. Six victories in the ten European darts events of the year were also claimed by van Gerwen.
In 2017, Michael won his second World Championship crown with a score of 7–3 against Gary Anderson. His third consecutive Masters trophy was also conquered that year, as well as his fourth European Championship title.
At the 2018 Masters, Van Gerwen won his fourth title in a televised match against Raymond van Barneveld. The same year, he won his hundredth PDC singles title during the next UK Open Qualifier, his 21st European Tour title at the European Darts Open, and his fourth 2018 World Grand Prix title.
In the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship, Van Gerwen was the top seed and won again the championship by defeating Michael Smith with a 7-3 win. 2019 also saw Michael Van Gerwen win the Masters title. He also managed to maintain his Premier League title in 2019 by beating Rob Cross and his World Grand Prix by defeating Dave Chisnall. The same year, Michael won the Champions League of Darts for the first time.
At the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship, Micahel was once again the top seed, but was defeated in the final by Peter Wright. In March 2020, Michael won the UK Open for the third time and in November, he won in the 6th Players Championship Finals.
In 2021, due to the loss he suffered at the PDC World Darts Championship while facing Dave Chisnall, Van Gerwen dropped to the second position in the world ranking.
Michael Van Gerwen is beyond doubt one of the most talented and prolific darts players in history. We’re glad if you’ve taken the time to read this profile, and we promise we’ll keep you up to date with Michael’s darts endeavors. Until then, if you want to follow his steps, don’t forget that regular practice is the key to success, and we’ve got the right darts gear to help you hone your throwing skills. One of the latest additions to our catalog is our innovative laser throw line. Discover this high-tech product here.
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