Michael van Gerwen PULLS OUT of tournament and risks falling out of top 100 in competition rankings - as friend gives worrying update
The Dutchman ruled himself out of Tuesday's action in Hildesheim, Germany, which saw Ross Smith secure his sixth PDC ranking title.
Van Gerwen, 36, has lost in the first round of a competition six times on this year's ProTour and apparently didn't feel up to it on this occasion.
One of those shock defeats was in the Players Championship 15 on Monday, and he has now dropped to 96th in the competition's Order of Merit.
At the end of the season (which includes 34 floor tournaments), the top 64 will qualify for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
Van Gerwen risks missing out and his compatriot Vincent van der Voort has given a concerning update on his confidence.
'When I see how things are going, the belief just isn't there,' Van der Voort told the Darts Draait Door podcast.
'His presence is lacking, there's no aggression or passion in his game.
'It's just about throwing at the board and hoping for the best.'
The Green Machine's slump in form means he could also miss out on the Premier League Darts finals night.
He sits fourth in the rankings, one point and one place ahead of Nathan Aspinall, who will be desperate to take his spot with just two nights of the regular season left.
Van Gerwen has only made it to the final of two out of 14 Premier League nights this season and was knocked out at the first time of asking by Luke Humphries in the most recent event in Leeds.
He has also been told by Van der Voort that he is taking too many holidays.
The Dutch star is ditching next month's World Cup of Darts in favour of a trip to Ibiza. Earlier this year, the seven-time Premier League darts winner suffered with health problems for two months after picking up an illness while on holiday in Thailand.
Van der Voort told the Darts Draait Door podcast: 'Sometimes he plays really well, but then he can't keep it up. He's going to have to train hard.
'He needs to put in the effort or he'll never find consistent form again.
'You can't just take a holiday and expect things to fall back into place. It doesn't work like that.'
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