Michael van Gerwen is just two wins away from finally capturing a fourth PDC World Darts Championship.
After a couple of lean years by the Dutchman’s incredibly high standards, just Chris Dobey, his semi-final opponent tonight (Thursday), and either Luke Littler or Stephen Bunting stand in his way. A final between MVG and Littler – the finest player of his generation against the sport’s teenage phenomenon – would be a dream match for many fans.
Van Gerwen, now 35, is still the youngest player to win the World Championship, lifting the trophy for the first time at the age of 24 in 2014. Littler, 17, remarkably, has another seven chances to beat that record.
But whatever else Van Gerwen, who could conceivable go on for at least another decade, achieves, he will go down as one of the greats of the game and, in the view of many, the second-best of all time after Phil Taylor.
Having won more than 150 PDC titles, Van Gerwen boasts tidy net worth of a round £7million. Despite his travails at major tournaments over the last few years, his career earnings are approaching £10m.
If he finally adds to his three world titles with his first since 2019, he will pocket another £500,000. Having come into the sport just as prize money was beginning the increase dramatically, Van Gerwen is one of the wealthiest darts players ever.
His status also grants him earning power away from the oche and he boasts lucrative endorsements in both the UK and the Netherlands.
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Van Gerwen has undergone a few bouts of jaw surgery in recent years. In 2023, he had what proved to be an unsuccessful procedure, which required further treatment.
He was still suffering major discomfort in the first part of last year and had more surgery after the World Matchplay in July. Addressing the issue before the tournament in Blackpool, he told AD: “They are going to break and reset my upper and lower jaw.
“My upper jaw, they are going to take it six millimetres forward and my lower jaw they are going to put back just three millimetres. I have a big underbite, a penny bowl, as they call it. That bothers me a lot anyway with eating.
“Your teeth also wear down and you snore more because of it. I’m looking forward to it. I can’t bite through a slice of ham yet. You get fed up with that at some point. After this, I hope to put a stop to all the physical ailments.”
Following the op, he took a month off to recover, returning to action in August by winning a Players Championship event in Wigan. With his jaw issues seemingly behind him, the Green Machine has been outstanding at Ally Pally so far, with his victory over the in-form Callan Rydz in the last eight being his best on the Ally Pally stage in years.
Van Gerwen’s biggest supporters are his wife Daphne and their two children, daughter Zoe and son Mike. Michael, from Boxtel in the Netherlands, and Daphne met in 2008, getting married in 2014.
Daphne, a regular attendee at her husband’s tournaments, is also a hairdresser. A prolific poster on Instagram, where she has more than 33,000 followers, she regularly shares loved-up family pictures of her with her beau and their children in holiday destinations like Ibiza, Disneyland Paris and Dubai.
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