Michael van Gerwen will make his return to the oche this weekend in New York. The three-time world champion temporarily stopped at the end of last month due to a breakup with his wife, but will reappear on Saturday.
Van Gerwen did throw a demonstration tournament in Waregem, Belgium, last weekend, but has not been in action on behalf of the PDC since his break. The darts association confirms to NU.nl that Van Gerwen will make his return at the US Darts Masters.
The temporary break of ‘Mighty Mike’ has only lasted a month. Van Gerwen announced at the end of May that he would temporarily stop playing darts due to a breakup with Daphne Govers, with whom he had been married for more than ten years. They have two children together.
“To our regret, I want to announce that Daphne and I have decided to end our relationship,” Van Gerwen wrote in a statement on social media at the time. “As a result, I have withdrawn from the upcoming tournaments.”
It is not known whether Van Gerwen will play more tournaments in the near future. Several smaller tournaments are scheduled in the coming weeks. Van Gerwen may be preparing for the World Matchplay, which takes place in July. That tournament is called the ‘summer World Cup’.
Van Gerwen was in a slump
Before his break, Van Gerwen also had a difficult period in darts. The Brabander reached the World Cup final in January, which he lost to Luke Littler. After that he ended up in a sporting crisis.
For example, Van Gerwen lost quickly at the UK Open and missed the Premier League play-offs for the second time in his career. His last tournament victory dates from September last year.
The contrast with his peak years is great. In the previous decade, Van Gerwen dominated the darts world for years, with world titles in 2014, 2017 and 2019 as a result. He was also the number one in the world for many years.