Michael van Gerwen out of German Masters due to ankle injury
"On medical advice I have unfortunately decided to withdraw and now I am going to concentrate on getting it better for the rest of the year"
Tuesday 31 October 2017 23:35, UK
Michael van Gerwen has withdrawn from the German Masters with an ankle injury putting his hopes of defending his Grand Slam of Darts title next month in doubt.
The World Champion has been struggling with bursitis in his left ankle but played his first round tie at the World Series of Darts event on Friday night, defeating Martin Schindler 6-2.
"Obviously I am devastated to pull out but as anyone could see last night my foot was in bad way," said Van Gerwen.
"On medical advice I have unfortunately decided to withdraw and now I am going to concentrate on getting it better for the rest of the year."
The injury had not recovered sufficiently overnight for Van Gerwen to compete in Saturday's final stages, where he could have compete in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
As a result, his scheduled quarter-final opponent James Wade now receives a bye into the semi-finals, with only three games now taking place in the afternoon session at the Castello Arena.
The Grand Slam of Darts gets under way live on Sky Sports as the best of the PDC compete against the best of the BDO - the action from the Wolverhampton Civic Hall begins on Saturday, November 11 with a double session.
Keep up to date with the news as the tungsten enters it's busiest time of year with the PDC World Championships just around the corner get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts.
