Van Gerwen easily to the third round of the World Darts Championship, De Zwaan talks about quitting after defeat

Michael van Gerwen has started the hunt for a fourth world title with a 3-0 win over Englishman James Hurrell, number 89 in the world rankings. The three-time champion was allowed to skip the first round due to his high ranking in the rankings (third).

De Vlijmen will meet Brendan Dolan from Northern Ireland or Lee Lok-Yin from Hong Kong in the third round. Earlier in the day, Wessel Nijman and Alexander Merkx qualified for the second round. Jeffrey de Zwaan was eliminated in the first round by the German Florian Hempel.

Van Gerwen has been struggling with his form for a long time and did not win any important TV tournaments this year, the so-called majors. He won his last world title in 2019. In an attempt to avert the form crisis, he trained more and more intensively than usual in the run-up to this World Cup.

At the start of his first World Cup match, those training hours seemed to pay off. Van Gerwen was clear on doubles in the first set and easily took away the set that Hurrell had started.

Van Gerwen took the set by throwing a score of 120 via the triple-20, single twenty and double-20, a so-called Shanghai finish. He opened the second set with a 110 finish, in a leg that he cleared in eleven arrows.

There seemed to be no problem for Van Gerwen, but suddenly his level dropped significantly – something he has shown more often this year in the middle of a game. He had trouble finding the triples and eventually took the set via the double-six, after six misses on the edges of the board.

The Dutchman recovered in the third set. He decided the game by hitting the double-2 with his fourth match arrow. Over the entire match, Van Gerwen recorded an average of 94.85 per three arrows, compared to Hurrell’s average of 89.32.

De Zwaan’s return to the World Cup podium was disappointing. The world number 74 lost 3-1 to Hempel from Germany in the first round. De Zwaan threw a higher average per three darts (93.53 to 91.15), but he missed out on the doubles.

“I really disappoint myself,” De Zwaan said afterwards. “I just felt really bad about myself.” When leaving the press room, he went one step further. “My career is over,” he said as he passed.

Due to the early elimination, De Zwaan loses his tour card, which allows darts players to participate in tournaments at the highest level. The near future will reveal what his words are worth.

The 28-year-old De Zwaan has suffered from a lingering shoulder injury in recent years and had to deal with mental problems. After four years of absence, he made his return today to Alexandra Palace, the famous hall in North London.

In 34-year-old Hempel he met the number 53 in the world, a German who used to be active as a handball goalkeeper at the second professional level in Germany. De Zwaan won only one leg in the first two sets. In the third set, which he won 3-1, he seemed to have found the momentum.

But De Zwaan again failed to score at the edges of the board. He missed seven arrows on doubles. Hempel took advantage and finished the match with his first match arrow via the double-10.