Michael van Gerwen suffers broken toe in freak accident before Luke Littler grudge match
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Michael van Gerwen has revealed he will compete in tonight's Dutch Masters quarter-final against Luke Littler with a broken toe, an injury sustained during his recent holiday in Thailand.
The three-time world champion suffered the setback just a week before starting his 2025 campaign.
The injury didn't appear to hamper the Dutchman's performance as he secured his place in the quarter-final with a commanding victory at the Maaspoort in Den Bosch.
Van Gerwen dominated his first-round match, securing an impressive 6-1 victory over fellow countryman Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Michael van Gerwen is playing with a broken toe
PAThe home crowd played a significant role, with van Gerwen asserting his dominance over his opponent's support.
"Dirk van Duijvenbode maybe thought the Dutch crowd would support him," van Gerwen said.
"But against one person, he doesn't have that. That's me. A shame for him, but you have to do it yourself in the end."
When asked about his injury, van Gerwen initially joked with reporter Arjan van der Giessen, saying: "You didn't hear that. I told you that."
The Dutch star remained defiant about the impact of his broken toe on tonight's performance.
Michael van Gerwen is playing his first tournament of the new season
GETTY"No, no, that's annoying, but you're not doing anything about it," van Gerwen said. "It happened last week on vacation. An accident is just a bump in the road."
Speaking ahead of tonight's rematch with Littler, van Gerwen reflected on their recent World Championship final encounter.
"At the moment itself, it's very sour, but it wouldn't be fair to myself if I didn't look at this positively," he said.
The 35-year-old maintained an optimistic outlook despite his defeat at Ally Pally.
"I put up a very nice tournament and played fantastic. Sour that I didn't reward myself, but I can take a lot of satisfaction from it now," van Gerwen added.
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Bahrain Masters champion Stephen Bunting faces home favourite Raymond van Barneveld, who defeated Chris Dobey in a last-leg decider.
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Michael van Gerwen will be hoping for revenge
GETTYGerwyn Price, runner-up in Bahrain, will take on Kevin Doets, who impressed with a 6-1 victory over Nathan Aspinall.
The evening's other quarter-final sees Rob Cross face Jermaine Wattimena, who produced a stunning 6-3 upset victory over world number one Luke Humphries in the opening round.
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