Michael van Gerwen captured his first ranking title of 2026 at Players Championship 15 in Leicester on Tuesday, delivering a sensational performance that included a 122.34 average in a 7-0 semifinal demolition of Martin Schindler. The Dutchman's display drew praise from close friend Vincent van der Voort, who said Schindler was 'simply angry that he lost, but there was nothing he could do here.'
Van Gerwen's average brought him perilously close to the ProTour world record. Van der Voort, speaking on the podcast Darts Draait Door, said: 'He played brilliantly; from the last 16 onward he never dropped below a 100 average. The standout was that 122, superb. This will also give him a great feeling, that things finally fell his way.'
According to Van der Voort, Van Gerwen's resurgence did not come out of nowhere. 'We've seen quite a lot of good things from him in recent weeks, but the results didn't come because he often lost unluckily. This time the start of the day wasn't great either, but it kept getting better.' However, Van der Voort cautioned that Van Gerwen is still 'vulnerable,' adding: 'It's not as if he's no longer vulnerable. But everything fell his way. Then you see what he's capable of, and that's impressive.'
Schindler averaged well over 108 himself but never got a look in. Van der Voort described the performance as 'unreal' and 'fantastic,' noting that Schindler 'was simply angry that he lost, but there was nothing he could do here. You run into that sometimes.' After the semifinal, Van Gerwen beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-5 in the final. Van der Voort said of Van Duijvenbode: 'A nice result for him, a final like that. He was due one, and he could really use this.'
With Van Gerwen's win, the Netherlands delivered a third different floor winner in a row, following Kevin Doets and Wessel Nijman. Van der Voort said: 'That's great, but now we have to hope we've got something to cheer about at the TV events too.' He also praised Nijman's current form, saying: 'There's just no stopping Nijman.'
