Michael van Gerwen tears into darts rival who 'isn't good enough' and will never beat him

Michael van Gerwen claimed that his opponent was “not good enough” after beating him at the European Darts Grand Prix on Saturday (April 18).

Van Gerwen is chasing his third triumph at the tournament and began this year’s edition with a comfortable 6–2 win against Germany’s Michael Unterbuchner, who had beaten William O’Connor in the opening round.

Then, when asked about facing Van Gerwen, he quipped: “Who is that?”

But MVG has had the last laugh, not only with a resounding victory in Sindelfingen but also when he spoke after the match.

The three-time world champion described Unterbuchner as “one of them guys that tries to be funny” before focusing on the fact he has “never beaten” him in his career.

Van Gerwen said: “He’s not good enough — even my B and C game beats him, but who cares? On to tomorrow.

“But he doesn’t know who I am, so who am I? The day I am going to worry myself about Unterbuchner, that’s the day I am going to quit playing darts.

“I had a couple of good legs, but also the one leg with a double one was a disaster. Who cares? I won the leg and that is the most important thing.

“The crowd is enjoying themselves — that is the only thing that matters. It’s been a long time since I won here, so hopefully I can give it a good go tomorrow.”

Fans also had their say on social media.

One said: “MVG is slowly taking the mantle of being the biggest pr**k in darts, what an absolute melt, stay humble, be professional.”

Another added: “Ahh, so what? It makes it interesting when they talk some s**t every now and then. Didn’t the other guy say something prior to this as a ‘joke’?”

While a third commented: “Brutal or just arrogant? That kind of confidence worked pre-2020, now it feels forced and unnatural, like he’s trying to mask the fact he’s been washed for a while.”

Van Gerwen, who previously won the European Tour event in 2016 and 2018, then went on to defeat his fellow Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena 6–5 on Sunday (April 19) to progress to the quarter-final of the competition, where he will take on Wessel Nijman.

Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski faces Danny Noppert in the final eight, while Nathan Aspinall and Ross Smith will compete in an all-English contest.