Michael Van Gerwen will not compete in the Berlin night of the Premier League after suffering an injury.
Van Gerwen was set to take on Gerwyn Price in the quarter-final stage of night nine in Germany, looking to kick off his night with a victory.
But the Dutchman will not step out on stage in front of the German crowd.
It has been announced that he has withdraw from tonight’s action due to suffering a shoulder injury.
Consequently, Price will be handed a huge boost as he receives a bye to the semi-final stage.
He will now play the winner of Luke Littler‘s quarter final clash with Chris Dobey.
It is a bitter blow for Van Gerwen who had shown signs he was in a positive vein of form on night eight.
Van Gerwen is also looking to qualify for the play-offs and currently sits in third position.
But given Price will now be given a bye, it will see him leapfrogged by the ‘Iceman’ on the night.
He could now get dragged into a real tussle for the four positions with Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall leading the chasing pack behind him.
Van Gerwen has won seven matches so far which has propped up his position in the standings.
But he has yet to win a Premier League night so far, and would have been hoping to get off the mark on German soil.
It will now be Price who will be hoping to get the job done and will fancy his chances, given his positive records against both Littler and Dobey.
Van Gerwen is now set to also miss this weekend’s European Tour event, and the opportunity to earn more ranking points.
Luckily for the Welshman he will have to play one less match at the oche tonight.
It will give him bonus relief given he too is nursing an injury.
He said before the event: “I’ve been struggling with a bit of an injury over the last week, and it’s still not 100%.
“It was nice to get another win on the ProTour this week, and this gives me a good confidence boost going into the Premier League on Thursday.
“I was 4-1 up against Michael on the European Tour the other week and I lost 6-4. It doesn’t matter how well you’re playing, these players can come back and beat you, so I need to be at the top of my game.”
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