‘There’s no bigger cheater than him,’ says Michael van Gerwen in shock blast at former darts world champion
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN has made a sensational accusation about former darts world champion Adrian Lewis by claiming “there is no bigger cheater than him”.
Mighty Mike and Jackpot had some thrilling matches over the years.
Van Gerwen, 35, managed to get the better of the Englishman over the course of their battles, but the Dutchman reckons no one comes close to him in terms of making it as “difficult as possible”.
Speaking to Sportnieuws.nl podcast Darts Draait Door, he said: “Honestly, Lewis has cheated all his life.
“There was no bigger cheater than him. You should ask Phil Taylor or Raymond van Barneveld the same thing.
“Lewis did nothing but talk behind you and stomp. He pulled out all the stops to take you out of your game.
“And then afterwards playing the murdered innocent, right? I’ve said it to him regularly.”
Lewis, 39, is a two-time world champion and four-time World Cup winner, but stepped away from the top of the game in April 2023.
This means he is set to lose his professional status in January after not competing.
Barry Hearn told SunSport that regardless of status in the game there could be no special favours in returning.
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However, Lewis hit back on social media, saying: “I’d never want any hand outs and I’d never ask for one.
“I’ve taken 21 months off the PDC circuit for my own personal reasons hence why I aren’t playing at this year’s world championships.
“Hope everyone enjoys the tournament and enjoys the festive period.”
However, Lewis has NOT retired and is set to play in amateur events next year.
He revealed: “Jason Thame asked me if I wanted to take part in the MODUS Series and I was a bit apprehensive but I told him that we’d give it a go next year.
“I’m going to do plenty of exhibitions and corporates with them and once I’ve done the series next year, I’ll see where I’m at with my game.
“If I’m enjoying it, then I’ll look to keep it going and go to Q School.”
Three-time world champion Van Gerwen starts his hunt for a fourth World Darts Championship title on December 20 against the winner of James Hurrell and Jim Long.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries