Michael van Gerwen believes that Gary Anderson put too much pressure on himself before suffering an early exit at the World Darts Championship.
‘The Flying Scotsman’ rocked up to the Alexandra Palace in fine form and averaged 92.51 in his opening game. But he was still outplayed by Jeffrey de Graaf, who sent him crashing out of the tournament with a painful 3-0 defeat.
Anderson cut a confident figure before the season’s showpiece event, admitting he was playing his best darts since winning consecutive world titles in 2015 and 2016. According to Van Gerwen, that may have contributed towards him falling at the first hurdle.
“We all know Gary had a good year on the Pro Tour but we also know he put too much pressure on his shoulders in the last few weeks by telling everyone he could have done it,” said ‘Mighty Mike’. “But as long as you keep believing and doing the right thing for yourself, no one cares.”