Michael van Gerwen forced to have major surgery after World Darts Championship as legend reveals ‘no other options’
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN hopes to sink his teeth into the Sid Waddell Trophy at least one more time – before getting his jaw BROKEN next year.
The Dutchman is among the favourites to win the PDC world title on Tuesday January 3 despite it being a fairly toothless year for him on the circuit.
Off stage, Mighty Mike had dental surgery this summer, which left him with a sore mouth and having to wear braces for several months.
The three-time world champion is planning to have more work done after the World Matchplay in Blackpool, which is likely to see him miss the World Series of Darts tournaments Down Under.
Van Gerwen, 34, said: “I haven’t even finished yet. I’m not even halfway through.
“I’ll have an operation in which they’re going to break my upper jaw and lower jaw. Put them right on each other.
“Then it’s all about recovery. Two years more in a brace. Then I’m about finished.
“Between the first operation this year and the second one, there has to be a minimum of one year.
“It’s because my upper jaw is a lot smaller than my lower jaw. My underbite is over a centimetre.
“Even a slice of ham, I cannot even bite properly. And because my upper jaw is too small also you get less oxygen through your nose.
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“That creates headaches. Less sleep. Things like that.
“You have to plan things, especially with my schedule. I can still eat. But only you bite wrongly. You don’t eat how you should eat.
“It’s the same as the year before with my Carpal tunnel syndrome. It had to happen. There are no other options. For me, it’s not really a big thing.
“Given what I have gone through, sometimes I do underestimate that. I think to myself: ‘Why am I so hard on myself all the time?’ But that’s the way I am.”
Van Gerwen – whose last world title was pre-Covid in 2019 – was defeated in the last final in January as Michael Smith celebrated a nine-darter.
On Tuesday he will face Irishman Keane Barry in the second round, having not lost at world level before Christmas since 2010.
It has been a mixed year for the Green Machine, given that he did win the Premier League in London and then the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam.
But then he was beaten by Andrew Gilding and Luke Humphries in the finals of the UK Open and Players Championship Finals.
Van Gerwen, who burst on to the scene in 2005, reckons that while he remains in a darts competition, his opponents will always be slightly restless.
The world No.2 said: “I’m a very big tree. They’re still the most happiest when they beat me or when I’m out of the tournament.
“That was the same with Phil Taylor. When they beat Phil, they were really happy. Because he dominated the game for so long. That’s how it is.
“I think realistically I could have, should have one or two more world titles in my opinion.
“There was the final defeat to Phil Taylor in 2013. I shouldn’t have lost to Rob Cross in the semi-finals in 2018. I had all the darts there.
“But you cannot look back now. Ifs, buts, maybes. Could have. Should have. It doesn’t bring you anything.
“That’s the way sport goes sometimes. Always everyone wants to find an explanation behind something. I don’t. I don’t need to find an explanation.
“Different days, different rules, different throws, everything is different again. Also it’s about momentum sometimes.
“I’m very hungry. I won’t stop playing darts until I’m back No.1 in the world.
“Even if I need to go on to the stage with an old man’s Zimmer frame. So that shows my hunger.”
