Michael van Gerwen is critical of himself after his victory over Raymond van Barneveld at the World Matchplay on Monday evening. In a lackluster match, he won against his compatriot in Blackpool.
“It’s nice to share the stage together, but you’re not concerned with that when you play like that,” Van Gerwen said on stage after the victory (10-6). “I didn’t play at the level I can reach at all. I made it so difficult for myself.”
It was already clear beforehand that Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld were not in their best form. This resulted in a rather mediocre match. In it, Van Gerwen was just slightly better than Van Barneveld.
“Raymond didn’t even play his best game,” Van Gerwen said. “Yet I make it so difficult for myself. I should have won by a much larger margin. But I haven’t played that many matches in recent months. That probably has something to do with it.”
Van Gerwen recorded an average of 92.95 points per three darts against Van Barneveld, but missed a whopping 22 darts on the doubles. Van Barneveld disappointed with an average of 87.78 points per three darts.
How does Van Gerwen now look to the rest of the tournament? “It can’t be worse than today, that’s the good news,” he concluded. In the next round, the Vlijmenaar will face Josh Rock.