Michael van Gerwen has fired shots at Nathan Aspinall and his Premier League Darts rivals by claiming there were ‘more characters’ in previous editions of the tournament. The Dutchman will attempt to extend his record of Premier League wins to eight in Thursday’s finals night at London’s O2 Arena.
Van Gerwen shot down a suggestion by Aspinall that the 2024 Premier League Darts tournament had been the best in the competition’s history. Aspinall is playing in just his fourth edition, while seven-time champion Van Gerwen is playing in his 12th.
MVG pointed out that this was perhaps the best Premier League campaign Aspinall had played in, but it was not the most outstanding overall. The 35-year-old then brutally insisted that this year’s tournament – which includes the likes of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries – lacks characters.
Having had Aspinall’s comments put to him by Sky Sports, Van Gerwen responded: “No, that’s not true. The best he’s been involved in but not the best Premier League ever so far.
“I think the year with myself, Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Peter Wright… that was quite a good one.
“Don’t get me wrong, the standard has been great so far [in 2024]. But what’s different? There were more characters in those previous Premier Leagues.”
Littler and Humphries are the favourites to win the tournament on debut. Both enjoyed supreme form during the first 16 rounds, building on their run to the World Darts Championship final earlier this year- in which Humphries defeated Littler.
The duo and Van Gerwen both recorded four victories each on their way to qualifying for the play-off. Michael Smith just snuck into the top four by defeating Humphries in the final in Sheffield on the final night.
Meanwhile, Smith has urged his rivals to stop complaining about the rise of the 17-year-old Littler. Some players have moaned about the attention the World Championship finalist has been receiving during his breakthrough year.
Smith said: “He’s amazing pushing the PDC boys even further. There’s a few getting upset with it but listen my pockets get full every time he gets mentioned.
“I think they are getting annoyed. I had it last year, Littler is getting it all now. I don’t think they are happy that he’s getting everything. I’m not bothered.”
