Dimitri van den Bergh faces a huge test in Michael van Gerwen at Alexandra Palace (Picture: Getty Images)
Michael van Gerwen is expecting a slow encounter with Dimitri van den Bergh as the Belgian does his ‘mental stuff’ on stage, but the Dutchman is unfussed and very confident of victory at the World Darts Championship.
Van den Bergh has been impressive so far in north London, with good wins over Krzysztof Ratajski, Kim Huybrechts and Jonny Clayton to set up a semi-final date with Van Gerwen.
Belgium’s number one player is feeling very good about his game, but after Van Gerwen won his quarter-final against Chris Dobey 5-0, he questioned how good Van den Bergh will feel when he meets him on stage.
‘Is he confident? He won’t be so confident tomorrow,’ said MVG.
He added: ‘You need to believe in your own ability and they way I’ve been playing in the last few weeks, months, probably a year, I’ve been playing some good darts. I beleive in my own strength and from there on I can do anything.
‘I play Dimi and I’m looking forward to that game, it’s going to be a tough one, I know that because I think Dimi is playing a lot better than he did a month or so ago, so I need to make sure I’m sharp, like I was today.
‘Most of the games I’ve played against Dimi…I think he’s only beaten me maybe once, but that doesn’t give you any guarantees for this one. You need to make sure you’re sharp and I’m sharp.’
MVG will have to deal with the lack of rhythm that Van den Bergh brings to the party, with the Belgian regularly focusing on his breathing and practicing a sort of mindfulness on stage.
This sees him stepping back from the oche and taking his time between throws, which could bother some opponents, but Van Gerwen insists it won’t be a problem.
‘I know how to perform against them,’ he said of slower players. ‘I know Dimi is going to do his mental stuff and all that, but I don’t care about that, I just need to make sure I concentrate on myself and my darts.’
Michael van Gerwen has been comfortably the standout player of the tournament so far (Picture: Getty Images)
With Michael Smith meeting Gabriel Clemens in the other semi-final, MVG is the only man left in the competition who has lifted the world title before.
He is full of confidence in his game at the moment anyway, and that is just another reason why the Dutch great will be sure of his chances on Monday night.
‘My experience is definitely going to help, but it doesn’t win me the title. I’ve still got to work for it and it’s still going to be really hard,’ he said.
‘The format gets so long that people have to do something special to beat me and I know that. But still everything has to be in place with my preparation, with everything.’
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‘Is he confident? He won’t be so confident tomorrow.’
