Michael van Gerwen has always hushed talks of young and upcoming Dutch players by beating them on the big stage.
He beat Gian van Veen in his first two European Tour Finals, even taking out Wessel Nijman in a deciding leg of last years’ European Championship. He always had the number of Jeffrey de Zwaan, and Jelle Klaasen. But this time it could be different, as he faces Kevin Doets tonight.
Doets has had the greatest year of his career, picking up his first PDC Title on the floor, as well as reaching a European Tour Final earlier in the year. He has put in multiple 110+ averages, including a staggering 117.12 against Jonas Masalin in Göttingen.
“Hawkeye” made his debut at the Matchplay and the Grand Prix this year and, despite averaging over 104 against Ross Smith, and missing match darts to beat eventual Semi-Finalist Nathan Aspinall in Leicester, he came away winless. He will be desperate to correct that tonight on his European Championship debut.
Michael van Gerwen, on the other hand, will be looking to find some much needed form. So far, 2026 is the first time since 2011 that van Gerwen hasn’t reached a single Quarter-Final at PDC Premier ranking events. A Last 16 at the UK Open and World Matchplay, but unable to really go deep. He managed to pick up a Players Championship title earlier in the year, producing an insane 120+ average in the Semi-Final, as well as topping the World Series Order of Merit, having claimed the Bahrain and Nordic Masters titles, but it’s in the majors where he will be looking to do his damage towards the end of 2026.
The pair have faced off four times in the past, with the head-to-head shared at two each, however, they haven’t met for over two years!
MvG claimed the last meeting with a whitewash 6-0 victory at the 2024 Dutch Darts Championship, and took the win in their only major meeting, at the 2021 Players Championship Finals. The last victory Kevin Doets’ picked up was in the Last 16 of a Players Championship event in September 2023.
A win tonight would be massive for van Gerwen, who would be starting down the battle of a drop outside the top ten should he fail, with his live ranking at 13. Kevin Doets is looking at moving towards the top 20, knowing a run to the Semi-Finals would put him close.
MORE ELITE DARTS COVERAGE: Check Out Our Devoted PDC Area
