After the game between Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross there was this moment between the two. In an interview with Viaplay the Dutchman explained what happened.
🗣 "Geen slap handje, hij gaf een heel sterk handje"
🤝 Na afloop hadden Van Gerwen en Cross wat woorden met elkaar, maar dat had niks met Michael te maken, aldus MvG zelf!
🖥 https://t.co/GHTrUJH3ko#ViaplaySportNL #ViaplayDarts #GSOD pic.twitter.com/g2rJJtovUR
— Viaplay Sport Nederland (@viaplaysportnl) November 12, 2023
“He gave me a strong hand so I immediately asked him what that was all about. It turns out he was annoyed but not with me but with himself. He realised he could have won this game which would have made a big difference for him.”
For Michael van Gerwen, this match isn’t crucial, but it’s entirely different for Martijn Kleermaker. The Dutch Giant recently expressed his intention to temporarily leave the professional darts circuit to prioritize his children.
He aims to finish with a good result, yet he hasn’t achieved this for himself despite two narrow losses of 4-5 against Rob Cross and Fallon Sherrock. This became painfully evident in an interview with Arjan van der Giessen after the match with The Queen of the Palace, where the towering Dutchman couldn’t hold back his tears as he expressed feeling like he was letting his children down.
As he concludes the interview, there’s still one more chance, making it crucial for him to end with a bang against Michael van Gerwen. On Tuesday night, the two face off in what could possibly be Kleermaker’s final performance.