MICHAEL VAN GERWEN is in danger of missing out on the Players’ Championship Finals after falling to 90th in the competition’s Order of Merit.
The Dutchman has an uphill battle to qualify for the event in Minehead next month as he sits £6,500 off making the cut.
GettyMichael van Gerwen could miss the Players Championship finals after slipping to 90th in the competition’s Order of Merit[/caption]
Van Gerwen initially only had five events left to qualify for the tournament he has won seven times.
But he was absent from the Players Championship 30 draw this week, leaving him even less time to make the finals.
The 36-year-old reached the last-16 at Players Championship 29 in Leicester before a 6-0 whitewash by rival Ross Smith.
Van Gerwen must climb into the top 64 in the Players Championship Order of Merit to reach the Minehead finals – where the winner will claim a £600,000 prize – and he is currently ranked 90th.
He is currently on £14.5m in prize money and will likely have to reach at least £21m to move into the qualifying crop.
His next opportunity will be at Players Championship 31 and 32 in Wigan later this month.
It comes amid a difficult time for the Flying Dutchman, who was filmed having an angry bust-up during a night out.
A clip that circulated on social media showed the three-time world champion at the centre of a scuffle on Saturday night.
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He had been enjoying a weekend off from the oche at the time of the incident – which he said was “less dramatic than people thought”.
“After an enjoyable night out, we wanted to grab something to eat, and unfortunately I ended up in a situation you’d rather avoid.
XThe Dutchman was involved in a bust-up during a night out last weekend[/caption]
“The man came at me from the kitchen, not the other way round, following a verbal exchange. People are making it sound more dramatic than it actually was, which is a shame.
“As you can see, people stepped in straight away and the situation was resolved. I even spoke with the man’s nephew afterwards, and we cleared the air before we left.”
Van Gerwen did win the World Series of Darts Finals last month but pulled out of the Swiss Darts Trophy in a bid to focus on his Players Championship ranking.
Former darts star and close friend Vincent van der Voort revealed his strategy after the Basel withdrawl and said he could only afford “rock solid” displays from now on.
Speaking to the Darts Draait Door podcast, he said: “That’s where the focus is now. In those five more tournaments he is going to play, he has to make up that 10,000 pounds. Everything will have to give way for that.
“There must be rock-solid performances now. So you can’t be satisfied if you haven’t almost made up that 10,000-pound deficit already.”
Van Gerwen was critical of his performance last month at the Hungarian Darts Trophy, despite a 6-2 win over Matthew Dennant in his opening game.
He said: “When you’re playing c*** you have to face yourself. When things aren’t good you always have to be honest, and I’m an honest guy.
“Especially when you want to play well and then you don’t, it gets harder.
“You’re frustrated for no reason because there was no reason to panic or to be miserable with myself, do you know what I mean?
“But this wasn’t a good performance. Simple as that. I think this crowd deserved more.”
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