Michael van Gerwen continues strong start to 2026 at Players Championship 1 event

2025 was a rough year for Michael van Gerwen, with few consistent results to show in events after his run to the 2025 WC final at the start of the year.

He's been able to put that behind him to start 2026 so far, as he appears to be inching back towards classic MVG form.

Michael van Gerwen continues strong start to 2026 at Players Championship 1 event

Although MVG didn't pick up a title win at PC 1 on Monday, he had another quality run that shows he's built up some momentum in the past few weeks.

He already has two titles this year, winning the Bahrain Darts Masters and Night 1 of the Premier League of Darts.

Other notable finishes he's had were a runner-up finish at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters and a semifinal run at PC 1 on Monday.

MORE: Michael van Gerwen hints at potentially pairing with Gian van Veen at 2026 World Cup of Darts

These are the types of consistent results we expect to see from 'Mighty Mike', who has struggled to make it out of the early stages of majors and tournaments before the start of this year.

MVG lost to James Wade in the semifinal on Monday, who went on to beat Nathan Aspinall in the final, claiming the first PC event of the year.

Czechia's Adam Gawlas had a career day, making it to the semifinal round as well.

New tour card holder Beau Greaves brought some of her momentum from this weekend's Women's Series with her to PC 1, winning a few games in a run to the last 16.

Among those who sat out of the event on Monday were Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock.

There will be another PC event on Tuesday, which will be the final PC event of the week, before PC 3 is held on Monday in Wigan.

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