Michael van Gerwen has vowed to ‘fight for everything’ as he prepares to make his return to home soil in the BetMGM Premier League in Rotterdam tonight.
Dutch superstar Van Gerwen will take centre stage on Night 11 of this year’s roadshow at Rotterdam Ahoy, and he is desperate to deliver for his partisan home crowd.
Van Gerwen is the most successful player in BetMGM Premier League history, winning a record-breaking seven titles in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Only once in 12 previous appearances has Van Gerwen failed to progress to the season-ending Play-Offs, although he currently finds himself outside of the top four positions ahead of Thursday’s action.
The three-time World Champion has won seven of his nine quarter-final matches this season, after withdrawing from Night Nine in Berlin due to a shoulder injury.
However, he’s only starred in a solitary nightly final this season – a statistic he will have to rectify if he’s to maintain his extraordinary record in this competition.
“It's not the most pleasant moment in my career, but I never give up,” warned Van Gerwen, who will take on Stephen Bunting in his quarter-final clash in Rotterdam.
"I've been struggling a little bit recently, but I've been battling and picking up points here and there.
“You have to deal with the circumstances. I still have the fire in my belly, and the anger is still there when I don’t perform, which I believe is a good thing.
“I’m going to fight for everything, because I know it's still there."
Last week’s action in Manchester saw Nathan Aspinall clinch his first nightly win of the campaign on home soil, which featured a semi-final victory over Van Gerwen.
Aspinall subsequently leapfrogged Van Gerwen into fourth position in the table, but the 35-year-old is now hoping to follow the Stockport star’s lead and ignite his Play-Off push in Rotterdam.
“This is always the week where you want to perform and do well," continued the world number three.
"Playing on home soil in front of your family and friends, you always want to produce something extra.
“The atmosphere is really enjoyable and it gives me more energy, which I think is really important.
“I need to make sure I do the right thing for myself, and hopefully I can get my first nightly win [of the season] here in Rotterdam.”
Van Gerwen will face Luke Littler or Rob Cross if he overcomes Bunting in the evening’s third quarter-final, with Littler bidding to extend his five-point cushion at the Premier League summit.
Aspinall opens his challenge for back-to-back nightly wins against an in-form Gerwyn Price, while Chris Dobey and world number one Luke Humphries go head-to-head in Thursday’s curtain-raiser.
2025 BetMGM Premier League
Night 11 - Thursday April 17 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Rotterdam Ahoy
Quarter-Finals
Chris Dobey v Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price v Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting v Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler v Rob Cross
Semi-Finals
Dobey/Humphries v Price/Aspinall
Bunting/Van Gerwen v Littler/Cross
Final
v
All matches best of 11 legs
