'Had Rock on the ropes': Michael van Gerwen spurns golden opportunity in frustrating second round World Matchplay exit

But it all unraveled on the doubles. “He missed two darts at 73 when it was 10-6. Before that, he’d missed three at tops, then three more at double 8. Tops just wasn’t working at all today,” Van der Voort explained. “If you don’t take your chances, a guy like Rock is going to grow into the match—and that’s exactly what happened.”

Despite Van Gerwen’s failings on the outer ring, Rock's performance didn’t go unnoticed. “That 152 finish was the turning point,” Van Veen said. “Before that, it felt a bit flat. He was running across the stage, but it lacked spark. After that finish, though, the rhythm came. More 180s, more energy. From that moment on, he was level with Van Gerwen—maybe even better.”

Yet Van Gerwen still showed flashes of brilliance. His 138 checkout to level at 10-10 drew high praise. “That 138 finish was world class,” said Van Veen. “That’s when you see he’s still one of the very best. Rock was on 90 for the match and Michael takes out 138 via double 9. That’s just quality.”

After the match, Van der Voort spoke briefly with the three-time World Champion. “He was really down,” Van der Voort revealed. “He said, ‘I’m hurting myself so much with this. This really wasn’t necessary.’ He knows he gave away at least five legs. Of course, sometimes you nick one from your opponent, but you forget those quickly. The ones that stick are when you miss three darts—and that keeps gnawing at you.”

Van Veen agreed with that assessment. “He was 100% the better player today. It was 6-4 after ten legs, but it could just as easily have been 7-3 or even 8-2. That’s where it all went wrong.”

Despite the frustration, there were positives. “The encouraging thing is you can see it really affected him,” said Van der Voort. “He gave everything today. That shows how badly he still wants to win. Now he needs to take a holiday, get some rest, then train hard again. If he puts in the time and effort, he’ll be back.”

Van Duijvenbode Falls Short as Gilding Shines

Elsewhere, Dirk van Duijvenbode couldn’t overcome a red-hot Andrew Gilding. “We expected Dirk to be the favourite, but Gilding was in top form,” Van der Voort said. Van Veen added: “I didn’t see that coming at all. Gilding was already strong against Heta in the first round. His scoring especially was very sharp.”

“Dirk started okay,” Van der Voort continued, “but the longer the match went on, the more he struggled.” Van Veen noted: “At one point he even started glancing left, clearly distracted.” Vlottes chimed in: “He tried to fire himself up with a few finishes—like he did against Cross—but it just didn’t work this time.”

Van der Voort added some personal insight into Van Duijvenbode’s circumstances: “The important thing is he didn’t have to pull out due to personal reasons. He’s about to become a father, and that’s way more important than this tournament.”

Van Veen joked, “Let’s hope he doesn’t have to do too much…” prompting laughter from Van der Voort. "Yeah, now he just needs to sit there, cheer and hum along. I remember my own experience—got completely stiff that night, haha.”

Wattimena Pushes Littler But Falls Just Short

Jermaine Wattimena also bowed out, despite a strong performance against Luke Littler. Wattimena led 7-2 at one point, but couldn’t close it out.

“Jermaine started well,” said Van Veen. “Littler wasn’t at his best early on—his scoring was off and the switches weren’t smooth. But then that 62 finish came, and it changed the match. The way he celebrated said, ‘I’m still here,’ and that gave him energy.” Van der Voort added: “Wattimena had the lead, but it got tight. Littler kept coming, and you could see Jermaine getting a bit nervous about the comeback.”

Still, Wattimena’s resilience drew praise. “The great thing is that he didn’t give up,” said Van der Voort. “That’s a big step for him. In the past, he might have thought, ‘This isn’t going to be my match,’ but now he fought to the end.”

Van Veen agreed: “You have to give him credit for how much he’s developed over the last few months. Even after giving away a 7-2 lead, he kept battling. That says a lot about his mentality.”

“We saw it against Peter Wright too. Jermaine was 7-3 up and it went to 8-8—but he still won. Same thing today. He was well in front, Littler claws back, but Jermaine doesn’t fold. That’s probably the biggest improvement he’s made in the last twelve months.”