Michael van Gerwen easily qualified for the World Cup quarterfinals Dutch darts champions 2025. “Mighty Mike” was 6-1 too strong for Dirk van Duijvenbode in the opening match of the second World Series of Darts tournament. Perhaps now he will be preparing for a repeat of the World Cup final against Luke Littler.
Van Gerwen missed the opening tournament of the World Series of Darts last week due to his holiday in Thailand. Then he talked to Viaplay about his absence from the Bahrain Darts Masters. “I enjoyed my vacation. It was definitely nice to relax after being away with the family. Now we have to get back to darts, right?”
When reporter Arjan van der Giessen noticed that Van Gerwen had broken his toe in Thailand, he reacted wittily. “You didn’t hear it. I told you so. No, it’s annoying, but you don’t do anything about it. This happened last week while on vacation. An accident is just a bump in the road.”
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Michael van Gerwen vs. Luke Littler will be a repeat of the World Cup final
Home team advantage
Van Gerwen had fans in front of him at the Maaspoort Stadium in Den Bosch. “Dirk van Duijvenbode perhaps thought the Dutch audience would support him. But it is not against one person. It’s me. I feel sorry for him, but in the end you have to do it yourself.”
The 35-year-old Dutchman also referred to his 7-3 defeat in the World Championship final against Luke Littler. “It’s very depressing at the moment, but it wouldn’t be fair to myself if I didn’t look at it positively. I organized a very nice tournament and played fantastically. I’m sorry I didn’t reward myself, but now I can get a lot of satisfaction from it.”
Van Gerwen will have an immediate chance to exact revenge on Littler tonight when he faces the Englishman, who turned 18 earlier this week, in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Darts Masters.