Michael van Gerwen

Michael van Gerwen

Published: Tuesday, 30 October 2007, 2:19PM

Name: Michael van Gerwen
Nickname: Mighty Mike
Date of Birth: 25 Apri 1989
Place of Birth: Boxtel, Netherlands
Home Town: Boxtel, Netherlands
Darts Used: 25g Mighty Mike MasterDarts
TV Debut: 2006

Arguably the hottest young talent to come from Holland in recent years, van Gerwen has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame and joined the PDC in January 2007.

He won the Norway Open and Northern Ireland Open in 2005 aged just 16, and backed that up with the Welsh Open title the following year as well as a host of Europe Cup Youth titles.

Van Gerwen also took victory in the PDC-ranked 2006 Open Holland, and became the youngest ever World Masters champion later that year, as well as a semi-finalist at the World Darts Trophy.

Although he was a first round loser in his Lakeside Championship debut, van Gerwen quickly bounced back to form following his move to the PDC - hitting a nine-dart leg in the semi-finals of the Masters of Darts in February 2007 against Raymond van Barneveld.

He would be a last 32 loser in both the US Open and UK Opens, and missed out in the Las Vegas Desert Classic qualifiers before making his debut at the World Matchplay.

The teenager defeated Peter Manley in the first round before suffering a narrow loss to Ronnie Baxter, but again excited fans with his performances on the big stage.

He reached the quarter-finals at the Ireland Open Classic during the autumn, but was a group stage loser in the Grand Slam of Darts.

Van Gerwen also lost in round one on his PDC World Championship debut, although it came with an agonising 3-2 loss to Phil Taylor after he missed one dart for victory.

A quarter-final in a UK Open Regional Final and a Players Championship semi-final were his best results in the first half of 2008, although he would lose in the last 64 at the US Open and then the UK Open.

Van Gerwen was a quarter-finalist in the summer's Las Vegas Players Championship, although qualification for the Desert Classic again eluded him.

He again came through a first round thriller at the World Matchplay, defeating Andy Hamilton, before suffering another second round loss, this time to Wayne Mardle.

Following another Grand Slam of Darts group stage exit, he overcame Darin Young in the first round of the World Championship, although Taylor would again be his Alexandra Palace conqueror, at the last 32 stage in 2009.

A pair of Players Championship quarter-finals were followed by a run to the semis at the UK Open Southern Regional Final as he cemented a place in the top 32 of the Order of Merit, before van Gerwen struck gold in April 2009.

A victory over Vincent van der Voort gave the youngster a Players Championship win, with the £6,000 ensuring qualification for the World Matchplay.

Hamilton defeated him in the UK Open at the last 64 stage, and he headed to Blackpool after again missing out on the Desert Classic.

However, his World Matchplay bid would end in disappointment with a loss to Raymond van Barneveld in the opening round.