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Michael van Gerwen showing 'cracks' amid new challengers, says Barry Hearn

Hearn: "We've developed this chaos at the Alexandra Palace called the World Championship which is synonymous with Christmas and the excitement levels seem to build year upon year."

Chief Marketing Officer at William Hill Kristof Fahy (R) and Michael van Gerwen of Holland (L) and PDC Chairman Barry Hearn (C) pose for a photo with the Sid Waddell trophy during William Hill World Darts Championship Sponsorship Launch at Rileys Sports Bar on June 13, 2014 in London, England.

PDC Chairman Barry Hearn says a few "cracks" are appearing in Michael van Gerwen's armour with his domination of darts under threat from the games new faces.

Rob Cross was unknown to darts fans, plying his trade as an amateur player while working as an electrician in Hastings, before sending Phil Taylor into retirement to claim the biggest title in the sport on his debut at the World Championship to become an overnight star.

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Gary Anderson became just the third man to complete darts' 'triple crown' as he beat Mensur Suljovic in a thrilling World Matchplay final before Gerwyn Price became Wales' first major PDC title winner at the Grand Slam of Darts.

Michael van Gerwen roared into another World Grand Prix final after a dominant win over Daryl Gurney

And although Van Gerwen picked the World Grand Prix in Dublin for a fourth time as well as winning numerous other titles in a trophy-laden 2018, Hearn believes the Dutch world No 1 is coming under more and more pressure from a fearless group of new faces.

People believe they can beat him so he has to be on his A-game, but he remains the favourite for this year's championship.
Barry Hearn on MVG

"Whereas Phil Taylor was dominating the sport for so many years and Michael van Gerwen was looking likely to pick up the mantle, there are a few cracks out there and we're getting quite a few new faces," he told Sky Sports.

"Van Gerwen has raised the bar and now the others have gone up to that level too, so there are players coming through that are quality players, but the man on the street doesn't yet know them. These players are going to have the stage and opportunity to change there lives and that's the essence of the whole of sport.

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"Van Gerwen may have missed a couple of doubles at crucial times, but there is nothing wrong with his game - it's just that the others are getting better. The gap is narrowing and it's not an easy stroll for him anymore.

"People believe they can beat him so he has to be on his A-game, but he remains the favourite for this year's championship."

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Van Gerwen may have claimed the World Grand Prix, but the Dutch ace has struggled in the other majors

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Hearn has been the mastermind behind the expansion of this year's Worlds at the iconic Alexandra Palace with 96 players, including the first two female players to feature since 2009, taking to the oche.

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Relive the moment Rob Cross won the World Championship with this 140 checkout...

It's just the start of what he believes is a globalisation of the game as its popularity reaches new audiences, from both genders, while the increase in prize money is like dangling the carrot for budding new stars. Who can follow in the footsteps of Rob Cross?

"This year is a culmination of what we've been working towards for the last few years," Hearn said. "Firstly, yes we want to globalise the sport and that involves a lot of work out there to get local qualifiers done and to make sure the representative from each country has got credibility within his own country, so that's been achieved this year.

"The operation has to be colossal because you're talking about having to deal with fifty different countries, and all the infrastructure problems as well as making sure you've got the right level of competition and opportunity for people, men and women because there are no barriers in darts. You need to remove barriers to the entry process at the World Championship in order to make it available to the broadest section of society.

"The other side of course was to put our prize money to a level where the perception of the sport grows and once you start getting into the £2.5m range, then the average sports fan raises an eyebrow and goes 'oh, this is real'. For the players themselves they're thinking 'this is a life-changing amount of money'."

Anastasia Dobromyslova & Rob Cross
Image: Anastasia Dobromyslova and Rob Cross headline the opening night of the World Championship

Anastasia Dobromyslova and Gayl King are the only two women to have featured at the PDC World Championship, and Dobromyslova makes her return after storming through the Rest of the World Women's qualifier in Dusseldorf.

She is joined by Lisa Ashton - who came through the Women's World Championship qualifier in Milton Keynes to secure her place at Ally Pally - and Hearn says it would have been "foolish" to ignore the ever-growing popularity in women's sports.

He added: "Women's sports outside of darts is growing very rapidly, so we'd be foolish commercially or socially to ignore them. I think it's sexist to do a women's only event so we've made it open season in snooker and darts.

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"The reaction we've had from women's darts players this year has been phenomenal with two good names coming through in Lisa and Anastasia."

Hearn gets just as excited as any other sports fan at this time of the year, adding: "We've developed this chaos at the Alexandra Palace called the World Championship which is synonymous with Christmas and the excitement levels seem to build year upon year."

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