Michael van Gerwen trembles his way into the round of 16 at the European Championship. While he himself misses three match darts, his opponent misses seven.
Michael van Gerwen has nervously made his way into the round of 16 at the European Darts Championship – avoiding an early exit at the last moment. The Dutchman defeated his compatriot Wessel Nijman in a dramatic decider with 6:5.
MvG already looked like the certain winner at 5:4, but then missed three match darts – Nijman seized the opportunity and forced a decisive eleventh leg.
There everything seemed to be going in favor of the 25-year-old, but he missed seven match darts. Via T18 and D8, van Gerwen finally checked 70 points for the victory.
For Van Gerwen, this was an important success in a difficult time for him. Van Gerwen is going through a tough year for personal reasons: He and his current wife are getting divorced, and his father is battling cancer.
With his win at the World Series of Darts in mid-September – his first major success in two years – MvG seemed to have found his way back on track.
At the World Grand Prix, however, he lost in the first round to Dirk van Duijvenbode and also failed to qualify for the Players Championship Finals for the first time.