"Looking forward to it"

Van Gerwen loses final – now forced break follows

Michael van Gerwen

(Bild: PA Wire)

Michael van Gerwen is taking a forced break from the sport of darts. After the painful 15:18 defeat in the final of the World Matchplay against Luke Humphries, the Dutchman will focus on his health instead of trophies, darts and prize money in the coming weeks.

"I have a severe underbite and that bothers me a lot. They're going to break my upper and lower jaws and readjust them," he announced in an interview. "They're going to move my upper jaw forward six millimetres and my lower jaw back three millimetres," "Mighty Mike" told the Dutch newspaper AD during the World Matchplay in Blackpool. He is aiming for his comeback at the end of August.

It is important to "do the right thing for yourself and think long-term", van Gerwen made clear. "It's frustrating not even being able to bite through a slice of ham. At some point it's just enough."

World Matchplay title goes to Humphries
The big titles have mostly gone to world champion Humphries, who also won the Phil Taylor Trophy and 200,000 pounds (around 240,000 euros) in prize money at the famous Winter Gardens. "To get my name on this trophy named after Phil Taylor makes me over the moon. To achieve this in the same year as my first World Championship title is very emotional for me," said Humphries.

"This is the reward"
The Englishman is currently uncatchable at the top of the world rankings. In addition to his successes at the World Championship and the World Matchplay, the 29-year-old also currently holds the titles at the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals. "I've worked incredibly hard on my game. This is the reward," said Humphries. Van Gerwen loses second place in the rankings to former World Champion Michael Smith and now occupies third place, although he had defeated Smith in the semi-finals in Blackpool.

Van Gerwen commented on his defeat: "I feel pretty good but I sold myself short. I was sloppy at the start of the match so I had to come from a long way back, but you know the match is long enough. You come back at the end too, but you let yourself down so incredibly. That hurts me a lot because it was completely unnecessary. But yes, at some point the indisposition of missing the doubles came up again and I can blame myself for that."

"I will go under the knife in 14 hours"
Van Gerwen doesn't have much time to mourn. The final was over at around 10:30 pm and after a short night's rest van Gerwen has to return to the Netherlands soon. "I'm going under the knife in 14 hours'', he alluded to his jaw operation. Why so soon? "Because the doctor will have time then. That's part of my job. I've been looking forward to it for a long time and I'm also looking forward to the second half of the season. I think I've shown some nice things here and done myself a good turn. I can be proud of myself."