All eight Germans said goodbye to the Darts World Cup early. Michael van Gerwen is asked why after his win against debutant Arno Merk. The superstar gets a happy excuse.
When Michael van Gerwen was told at the press conference after his win against Arno Merk (4:1) that there were German reporters in the room, he imitated a very specific sound. It sounded like the malicious sound from a game show when one of the contestants answered incorrectly or lost the game. The Dutch darts superstar made three sounds. They captured the German mood at the Darts World Cup in a nutshell. Bad.
All four remaining German dart players were eliminated from the tournament within two days, none of them survived their third round game. Van Gerwen didn’t really want to give reasons for the disappointing results. “You should train with me more often,” he said, not without the expression on his face indicating that he probably wasn’t entirely serious. His second tip was also more intended to trigger laughter among the journalists. “You have to go to the practice board,” said the world number three. As if the Germans didn’t train.
But van Gerwen was not at a loss to criticize them. “A country like Germany should have more players in the absolute top class. I was surprised by the first round defeat by…” Yes, by who? Van Gerwen briefly searched for the name. “…Niko Springer.” The 25-year-old is actually considered the greatest talent in German darts, but completely surprisingly lost at the start to the Australian Joe Comito.
“Maybe he was a little nervous. Martin Schindler has played well in the last few games, but he also drops out of nowhere. You have to be more consistent,” said van Gerwen. Schindler lost 4-0 to Ryan Searle on Sunday afternoon. Van Gerwen explicitly excluded the performance of Gabriel Clemens, who set a new German record average in his defeat against former world champion Luke Humphries.
“Welcome to my life,” says van Gerwen
However, van Gerwen did not want to accept the popular excuse that there was too much pressure on the Germans from outside and the media. “Welcome to my life,” he said, simply alluding to the great attention with which his every performance has been watched for years. Then he had some advice for the Germans.
“The more they talk about you, the more interviews you have, the more important you are. They should be happy to have interviews. The day they stop having interviews…” the Dutchman elaborated. He expressed the rest of the message with a wave of his hand. It symbolized a slide. Van Gerwen tried to symbolize that things would go downhill.
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Those German players who spoke out after their defeats also drew positive conclusions despite their elimination. This is what Martin Schindler did on the streaming service DAZN, who spoke of a “good World Cup”, but not a “sensational World Cup”. And Van Gerwen’s opponent Arno Merk said: “There were four Germans in round three for only the second time (after the 2024 World Cup, editor). It’s just nice to have been one of them,” said the debutant with no chance. “The breadth has become incredibly strong, the young players are also really good. If we continue like this, there will soon be more than twelve German tour cardholders.” The number marked a new German record this year.
Luca Wiecek is sports editor for WELT. He will be reporting from Alexandra Palace in London until New Year’s Eve.
