Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade may know how to beat Michael van Gerwen
'Mighty Mike' may be the immovable object and the irresistible force, but three players think they know how to beat him...
Thursday 2 February 2017 18:06, UK
How on earth do you beat reigning world champion and world No 1 Michael van Gerwen?
Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade think they know the answer after beating the brilliant Dutchman in TV tournaments over the last 14 months.
The ruthless Van Gerwen showed his rivals little mercy last year, winning a sensational 25 tournaments in a remarkable season.
Those included the seven major televised titles at the Masters, UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, World Series of Darts Finals, European Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts, while he was also crowned Premier League champion for the second time.
He's started 2017 in irresistible fashion too after claiming his second World Championship title at Alexandra Palace while last weekend he won a third successive Masters title.
Van Gerwen does suffer defeats now and again though, with Van Barneveld knocking him out of the 2016 World Championship in a last 16 thriller, 4-3.
Taylor dispatched the world No 1 twice in the space of a weekend when he recorded an 11-5 victory in the final after his 10-4 group-stage win in the inaugural Champions League of Darts.
And 'The Green Machine' suffered a surprise 7-4 defeat to Wade on the opening night of last year's Premier League.
So how did they do it? We've asked them what the secret is to upsetting the Dutchman.
Phil Taylor says...
There's no secret. You have to outscore him and hit your doubles. There's two games where he's beaten me and I've missed finishes. It's a killer, but he always seems to hit the right shot at the right time, bless him.
He's a good player. You have to score heavy and you have to hit your finishes - that's all you can do against him. It's like playing Chelsea at the minute, you've got to go out there and perform. I can't say anything more about him, although he's still got a long way to go to beat all my records.
James Wade says...
Do what 99 per cent of them don't do, don't make it a big thing. People used to do it against Phil and now they've started to do it against Michael, and as soon as they start doing that he's beaten them before they've played him.
I don't feel that way when I play him because I know I have to play well. It's quite an enjoyable game when you do play him.
You know it's going to be a good game and you know you have got to play exceptionally well. I raise my game against the big players because you have to play well. I know how good I am and I don't achieve it most of the time, which is very, very annoying and frustrating.
Raymond van Barneveld says...
Use four or five darts, I don't know. Even when I played Michael with a 109 average, 68 per cent on the doubles, and I was only winning two sets [at the World Championship]. It's simply unreal what is happening at the moment.
It's all about preparation, but if you play him over four to seven sets then it's harder to beat him. You can have good averages and a good percentage on the doubles, but at the end of the day it's the result that counts.
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