‘Being bullied’ – Wayne Mardle fumed as Michael van Gerwen match was stopped over mind games
Michael van Gerwen’s cheeky mind games forced his rival to halt their World Darts Championship semi-final two years ago.
The biggest event in darts begins on Thursday night and the world no.3 will be looking to claim a fourth title.
The Dutch legend has reached the last two finals, finishing runner-up both times, and back in 2023, his route to the showpiece event became rather controversial.
He was taking on Dimitri Van den Bergh for a spot in the final at Alexandra Palace when things got tense.
Van Gerwen was leading 2-0 in the semi, which he would eventually go on to win before then losing to Michael Smith in the showpiece.
He was storming clear of Van den Bergh, who appeared to be getting on edge with his opponent at the oche.
And while Van den Bergh was trailing by a distance in the first leg of the third set, he stopped play for a brief moment.
The Belgian paused and turned to Van Gerwen, saying a few words and then turning back around, leaving his rival shaking his head.
He then had to recompose himself for a few seconds, putting his hand to his forehead and slowly calming down.
At that point, it was unknown what had caused the issue, but commentator Wayne Mardle tried to work things out.
He said: “Dimitri Van den Bergh is not happy… Michael van Gerwen there has just got his left foot encroaching the zone.
“Really, he shouldn’t be in there when Van den Bergh is throwing.
“Maybe Dimitri found him on his shoulder and didn’t like it.”
Van Gerwen then went on to win the first leg of the third set, as play continued following the awkward moment.
Semi-final beef goes on
But the tension remained on the stage, as Van den Bergh paused yet again, standing still for a moment before walking up.
Van Gerwen returned to the same place he was standing in the last leg, with his foot just over the encroachment zone and right behind his rival, who was about to throw.
Mardle continued: “Well, it didn’t upset Van Gerwen whatever was said, he’s just carried on…
“I can assure you that as a player, what he’s doing there makes no difference, but he really shouldn’t be there.”
Things remained tense on stage as the game went on, with Van Gerwen going on to speak into Van den Bergh’s ear, as the Belgian darts star took his time with his next throw.
“Now they’re having words, now Michael is going along the lines of ‘Hurry up, pal!’… it’s turned, now there’s an edge,” Mardle said.
‘Feeling like he’s being bullied’
Mardle and co-commentator John Part then both jumped to the defence of Van den Bergh as Van Gerwen called for him to speed up.
Mardle began: “We mentioned already, the pace of play and everything he does, this is what Van den Bergh does.
“This comes as no surprise, him slowing down.”
Part added: “Fair enough, he doesn’t want to be bullied into doing something other than what he does.
“And he’s feeling like he’s being bullied a little bit here.”
Sadly for Van den Bergh, Van Gerwen went on to win with ease, claiming a 6-0 victory to book his spot in the World Championship final.
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