Vincent van der Voort has praised Michael van Gerwen's progress after a semi-final run at Players Championship 1 last week, but insists the Dutch star still has clear areas for improvement. Van der Voort, speaking on the Darts Draait Door podcast, acknowledged Van Gerwen's encouraging performance but lamented a missed opportunity to win the title.
According to Van der Voort, Van Gerwen started the day sluggishly but found his rhythm after technical and mental adjustments. "It started as a very scrappy day, but after the third round I made a few small adjustments with him. Then he started throwing really well," Van der Voort said. He believed Van Gerwen could win the tournament from that point, making the 7-6 semi-final defeat particularly disappointing. "He really should have won it today. It's a shame he kind of messed up the semi-final, especially missing a lot of chances early on."
Van der Voort highlighted that Van Gerwen's improvement came as tension left his throw, leading to a smoother technique. However, he pinpointed finishing on doubles as a critical weakness, especially in key phases. "He missed a lot of doubles early in that match against Wade. He goes 1-0 up, misses darts for 2-0 and then chances to pull away further. When he has three darts in hand at a double, he still misses too many. He really has to get better there."
Despite the shortcomings, Van der Voort stressed an upward trend, noting that Van Gerwen reached a semi-final after failing to make one last year. He also emphasized the bigger picture: the semi-final marks a strong start toward qualifying for the Players Championship Finals, which Van Gerwen missed last year. "You start with a semi-final and the goal is to lock in qualification as quickly as possible. Ideally you're a hundred percent certain by around April or May. Then you can take a calmer approach in the autumn and you immediately quell the criticism," Van der Voort said, recalling the intense pressure from last season.
