Michael van Gerwen was left to rue his comments regarding Gary Anderson before taking on the Scot in the second round of the European Championship.
The pair clashed once again in Dortmund but only after Van Gerwen labelled his opponent a “part-timer” in the build-up to their highly anticipated match.
Those words clearly put the fire in Anderson, 53, who was in blistering form to dump the Dutchman out of the competition with a resounding 10-4 victory to reach the quarter-finals.
The two-time world champion rolled back the years with a 96.91 average, five 180s and a 40 per cent checkout success. He won the first four legs and then broke throw again with a wonderful 122 checkout in the 10th leg, before winning three of the remaining four to seal a memorable victory.
It is a win that tastes even sweeter after Van Gerwen brought up his nickname of Anderson, having set up the tie with a comfortable 6-1 win over Gabriel Clemens.
Van Gerwen claimed: “We all know Gary Anderson, one of the best players I have ever seen in my life. But he is also a part-timer. So I need to make sure I’m going to do the right thing and bet on my own game.”
He did, however, express his respect for one of the titans of the game, who earned Van Gerwen’s nickname by avoiding several tournaments outside of the UK to spend time with his family, adding: “Gary is always going to be a blockbuster. Whether you have a good or bad game, it’s always going to be a tense game.
“We don’t want to lose to each other. We know each other really well. I’m feeling comfortable. I feel good. I know I can hurt him on the right moments.”
It wasn’t the first time that Van Gerwen had made the jab to his fierce rival, who he defeated 7-3 in a memorable 2017 World Championship final, doing so also before a meeting last year.
Van Gerwen said: “In the practice room we call him ‘the part-timer’ he does whatever he wants. That’s also his right, he’s been on the tour for so long, what do you expect?”
But ‘The Flying Scotsman’ plans to cause Van Gerwen and co further “grief” by joking that he wants to become world No. 1 again – and retiring on the spot.
“It wasn’t really Michael, was it?” Anderson asked. “He definitely struggled up there. His scoring wasn’t his usual 180s, 140s.
“Michael has done everything in darts, hasn’t he?
“I’d like to get to number one and retire on the spot. That would cause a lot of grief. I Couldn’t do it now.”
