Michael van Gerwen has had the season of his life and will be back in Dublin next week to defend his World Grand Prix title at the Citywest Hotel.
There is little doubt that the Dutchman has been the stand-out performer in the PDC over the past 12 months, and while Phil Taylor might argue the point given he defeated MVG in the World final, the 24-year old has demonstrated great consistency over the course of the season.
The Premier League is all about consistency and nerves and Mighty Mike picked up that crown after beating The Power 10-8 in the final. All the more impressive considering it was his first year in the competition.
A World Matchplay semi-finalist and Grand Slam semi-finalist, his other PDC victory over the past twelve months was in Dublin last year, where he showed his resilience and no little skill to claim the World Grand Prix title.
He came from behind to knock out Colin Lloyd 2–1 in the first round, sent Adrian Lewis packing in the next round, overcame a strong fight back from Andy Hamilton before crushing Wes Newton 5-1 in the semi-final.
Mighty Mike described his 6-4 victory over Mervyn King, where he was 4-1 down, as “the best day of his life” and since then his rapid progress has showed little signs of slowing down. Such was his form that during the World Championship’s he hit 17 perfect darts against James Wade, before going down to Taylor 7-4.
At the PDC awards dinner in January 2013, Van Gerwen won three awards; Young Player of the Year, PDPA Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year and he looks likely to be the biggest challenger to Phil Taylor seeks an incredible 11th title.
And to cap it all off, he seems like a pretty sound bloke too as JOE caught up with MVG the last time he was in Dublin. You’d be a brave punter to back against him retaining his crown.
