| by Peter Verbeek
Michael van Gerwen was unable to score any points on Thursday evening during the ninth round of the Premier League Darts. Jonny Clayton was 6-5 too strong in the first game.
The level was also nothing to write home about. Van Gerwen scored an average of only 89. In a reaction in front of Viaplay’s camera, ‘Mighty Mike’ said that he was unable to recharge for this match.
“It just didn’t make sense, the sharpness wasn’t there tonight. But this format also demands it. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with it. I said that last year, and now again”, Van Gerwen was particularly critical of the format of the Premier League.
The six-time Premier League champion did not want to use that criticism as an excuse for his defeat. “I always want to win, but today I didn’t have the right attitude and that’s obviously not good. Of course I’m disappointed that I lost, but I’m even more disappointed that I spent 3.5 hours preparing for mischief here.”
With the current format of the Premier League Darts, seven matches are played in an evening. The eight players each play a mini-tournament with a quarter-final, semi-final and a final. This often results in the same players facing each other. In the old format, the players used to play only one game per round.
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