Michael van Gerwen says his World Matchplay defeat to Phil Taylor was 'painful'
"The last ten legs or so felt like torture but Phil played well"
Sunday 30 July 2017 18:11, UK
World No 1 Michael van Gerwen said his World Matchplay quarter-final hammering at the hands of Phil Taylor on Friday night "felt like torture".
Taylor produced one of his greatest performances at the Winter Gardens to annihilate Van Gerwen 16-6 and defy the bookies' odds.
The Dutchman was bidding to claim a third successive World Matchplay triumph, but paid the price for 21 missed doubles in the match as Taylor, backed by a vociferous crowd in Blackpool, pulled off a remarkable victory.
"I wasn't 100 percent and that's my fault," said Van Gerwen, speaking to RTL7. "I have to accept it, even though it's painful.
I don't blame the crowd. These things happen in Rotterdam, Aberdeen and Germany as well and when you're 100 per cent focused you can deal with that
"The last ten legs or so felt like torture but Phil played well. He took every chance to hurt me and I didn't - I didn't take any chances at all and that hurts, but I have to deal with that.
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"My form wasn't there and it wasn't there in the first two matches as well. Looking at my average of 101 it's not good enough when you play Phil - I missed so many doubles, I was poor.
"I don't blame the crowd. These things happen in Rotterdam, Aberdeen and Germany as well and when you're 100 per cent focused you can deal with that."
Van Gerwen will now have a break during August, with wife Daphne due to give birth to their first child in the coming weeks.
The 28-year-old will miss the World Series of Darts events in Auckland, Melbourne and Perth before his planned return to action at the Dutch Darts Masters in Maastricht.
"I'm taking a month off now, Daphne is giving birth to our daughter soon and I'm looking forward to that very much," added Van Gerwen.
"After that month I've got to focus again on the darts and make sure I'm ready for the upcoming tournaments."
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