Vincent van der Voort has questioned Michael van Gerwen’s decision to skip the recent Players Championship 17 and 18 events in Leicester, despite van Gerwen having just won his first floor title since 2024 at PC15. Van Gerwen averaged 122.34 in a 7-0 semi-final win over Martin Schindler before defeating fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode in the final. However, his absence from the Leicester tournaments left van der Voort bemused.
Van Gerwen, a three-time world champion, has seen his career stagnate with inconsistent showings, and an imminent ranking drop could see him fall outside the top 20 in the world. Since his PC title, he has lost momentum, failing to make Finals Night in the Premier League Darts for the second year running and opting not to compete in the two most recent PC tournaments, which were won by Luke Humphries and Luke Woodhouse.
Speaking on Darts Draait Door, van der Voort said: “I have an opinion about that too. You want him to realise that he was on an upward trajectory. But he chose to skip these tournaments again. We talked about it, but he was also away from home for a week and a half, from the Pro Tours in Hildesheim up to and including the Euro Tour in Graz and the Premier League. He noticed that his energy was depleted. Right after that win, things were bad again. He had stayed in eight different hotels in 13 days; that's not ideal either.”
Van der Voort acknowledged that these are choices van Gerwen must make, but stressed the need to catch up to players ahead of him. “He will only be judged on what he has done over the past two years after the World Championship. Until then, there isn't much to worry about. But there really need to be some standout performances this year, otherwise he will drop significantly. Just look at how far behind he is compared to other players—more than a hundred thousand on some. Just try catching up.”
Van der Voort also used Wessel Nijman as an example, noting that Nijman has won five PC titles in 2026, earning over £100,000 on the floor alone and rising into the top 16 in the world. “Michael is so good; if he sets his mind to it, he'll be back in no time,” van der Voort said. “But he needs to realize that there are so many players who are more consistent and better than him. That shouldn't be a blow to his pride, and he should want to turn that around.”
