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Michael van Gerwen returned to competitive action during the Nordic Darts Masters in Copenhagen following his Curacao holiday, believing that his rivals are going to feel the burden of not doing the same between seasons.
Van Gerwen enjoyed a couple of weeks in the Caribbean islands with his family after his defeat at the hands of Michael Smith in the World Darts Championship final, opting against attending the inaugural Bahrain Masters last week.
The three-time world champion travelled for 16 hours in order to arrive in time for the Danish World Series of Darts tournament, boarding a frantic flight from Schiphol airport to Copenhagen ahead of his 6-3 win over Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson.
“It’s probably the worst preparation I’ve ever had for a game,” Van Gerwen told Online Darts in Copenhagen. “But I wanted to play in this, the PDC wanted me to play in this and of course the fans, so you need to try and make sure you fit things in.
“I just had enough time to make it over here. You have to pull out if you don’t want to be here, I want to be here and that’s why I’m here and playing.
“Of course if you’re competing in a tournament, you need to be critical of yourself. There’s a lot of points where I know I can do better but it’s a nice warm-up for me towards the Masters and the Premier League.
Van Gerwen wasn’t the only member of the world’s elite to be in favour of a January holiday instead of a Bahrain appearance, with Nathan Aspinall and Joe Cullen both having family holidays in Florida and Barbados respectively in between seasons.
The World Matchplay champion suspects that those who headed to the World Series opener in Bahrain could be left to rue that decision deeper into the season.
“You need to take some time off and especially with the family,” the Dutchman added. “It was a lovely holiday. I had some good times with the family and the kids loved it, the wife loved it, so more what do you want?
“All of the players chose not to have a holiday and I think they are going to regret it at the end of April, end of May because it’s going to be so busy with all the ProTours and Euro Tours.
“I was away in Australia and New Zealand and of course Blackpool for five out of the six weeks in the summer. I wasn’t there in October when the kids were on holiday, I wasn’t there for the Christmas holidays, so it was about time that we had some family time.
“Of course that’s part of the journey and you have to accept it. You need to try and find the right balance for yourself but that’s what I’m doing. Sometimes you need to recharge your batteries and make sure you’re prepared for the rest of the season.”
