News Beat
Michael van Gerwen bravely carrying on at World Darts Championship despite father’s harrowing cancer battle
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN is bravely carrying on at the World Darts Championship despite his father’s harrowing cancer battle.
The three-time winner starts his Ally Pally campaign next week in a first-round opener against Mitsuhiko Tatsunami.
Van Gerwen has endured a torrid year on the oche by his usual standards.
And fans are eager to see whether the Dutchman can regain the form needed to challenge defending champ Luke Littler and former world No1 Luke Humphries.
Indeed, it was less than 12 months ago that Van Gerwen reached the last WDC final where he lost to Littler and missed out on a fourth title.
But the ace’s bad year was only just beginning.
Van Gerwen is currently in the middle of a divorce from wife Daphne, the mother of his two children.
The pair had been together 17 years, 11 of them married.
Yet Van Gerwen has also been struggling with another major setback.
Dad Henri has been in the midst of a brave battle against cancer this year.
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
He has undergone months of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
But Van Gerwen reckons Henri will keep a close watch on his fortunes in north London, and will even “tell me off” for any bad performances.
MvG told The Guardian: “Not too good, he is sick. They amputated his nose one-and-a-half years ago, and two months ago they cut away all his lymphs.
“They cut them everywhere so he can’t taste any more, he can’t swallow any more. He has tubes so it’s not going too good.
“His quality of life is bad – but he still tells me off when I don’t do well. He’ll be watching me in the Worlds.
“He was always a strong man and now…”
On his marriage ending, Van Gerwen added: “We were 17 years together, nearly 11 years married.
“You need to give yourself time to let it go. Sometimes you get thrown back to reality and then you need to try to move out of it again. I can do it.”
World Darts Championship 2025/26 – all the info
LUK OUT!
Christmas decorations going up and the nights drawing in can only mean one thing… the return of the World Darts Championship!
Several superstars will be determined to slay defending champion Luke Littler at the Ally Pally spectacle.
And the world No1 is set to have his work cut out with an expanded 128-player field competing for a share of the huge prize fund.
But after recently completing the TV darts trophy haul, Littler is a nailed-on favourite to retain his title.
Here’s everything you need to know for this iconic competition…
INFO
LATEST NEWS
VIDEO
If you click a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
