Michael van Gerwen claimed Dirk van Duijvenbode ‘doesn’t know any better’ after his fellow countryman snubbed the three-time World Champion in favour of teenage sensation Luke Littler.
Van Gerwen has come under fire for his patchy form this season, with Littler and fellow namesake Luke Humphries dominating at the oche in 2024.
Humphries took the World Championship title earlier this year, while Littler picked a bumper £275,000 prize for winning the Premier League title back in May.
Such has been the 17-year-old’s rapid rise to prominence, Dutch darts star Van Duijvenbode insisted Littler is better than Van Gerwen was at the same age – something the three-time world champion didn’t respond well to.
In an exclusive interview with Express Sport, in association with BoyleSports, Van Gerwen claimed: “I don’t even know that Dirk watched darts at that moment or was playing at that moment. I don’t know.
“That moment [when MVG was a teenager] was a totally different era. When I was doing well and winning a lot of tournaments, there was no social media. There was MSN [Messenger] and that was it.”
The former world No.1 continued: “So you can’t really compare them with each other. Same as now, you didn’t have all the television channels, you only had the BBC.
“Times are moving forward. But I’m not taking it personally, people are allowed to have their own opinions and sometimes they just want to say something because they don’t know any better.”
One of the sport’s Mount Rushmore figures, the legendary Van Gerwen has pretty much seen it all, from competing in dingy pubs and clubs in front of next to no fans, to selling out arenas across the continent and around the world.
Reflecting on his career in the sport, Van Gerwen admitted he’s proud of how much progression darts has made, all while heaping praise on the PDC.
Van Gerwen added: “We’ve come really far. When I used to play in the PDC in the beginning years, we played the qualifying tournaments in pubs, things like that. Now we never see pubs again, we only play in huge venues.
“You also need to give the sport time to settle. If you look at the organisation and what’s behind it, if people say it’s unprofessional they’re crazy. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Van Gerwen will have the chance to prove his worth at the oche next week when he goes in search of his seventh World Grand Prix title in Leicester.
Early Payout is available on every match at the BoyleSports World Grand Prix, which starts on Monday 7th October at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena.
