Darts-WM
Long-time world number one and three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen tested positive for the corona virus at the Darts World Cup in London. The 32-year-old Dutchman was eliminated from the most important tournament in the world, as the PDC World Federation announced on Tuesday evening a few hours before the game.
Van Gerwen’s opponent Chris Dobey from England, who defeated the Viennese Rusty-Jake Rodriguez in the second round, made it to the round of 16 without a fight. The day before, van Gerwen’s compatriot Vincent van der Voort had tested positive for the virus. He was also eliminated without a fight. Raymond van Barneveld was the first of three Dutch people to give a positive CoV test at Christmas. At this point the five-time world champion had already been eliminated from the tournament after losing 3-1 to Rob Cross (ENG).
Van Gerwen, world champion in 2014, 2017 and 2019, was a tournament favorite alongside defending champion Gerwyn Price (Wales) and Peter Wright from Scotland. On Monday, the Englishman James Wade benefited from van der Voort’s failure and made it straight to the last 16.
The value of the World Cup could be called into question
For the PDC, the final week in the Alexandra Palace could now be a very complicated challenge. There are no more successors in this phase of the tournament, instead more and more games could be canceled in further coronavirus cases and the value of the World Cup could be seriously questioned. Before the tournament, the Spaniard Juan Rodriguez was already out due to the pandemic. “Mighty Mike”, as van Gerwen is called, is now the first really big name. That will raise further questions.
Because not only the situation with the players is tricky, but also the backdrop in north London. So far, full occupancy has been permitted in the “Ally Pally” under 3G rules (vaccinated, convalescent and negatively tested). However, distance and masks often only play a minor role in an exuberant mood and excessive beer consumption. Since van Gerwen cannot compete in the evening, only two instead of the planned three games will take place.
