Lloyd on Van Gerwen: "You can't keep saying I'm the best player in the world if you don't turn up."; Download and subscribe to The Darts Show podcast from wherever you get your podcasts for news, interviews and reaction
Friday 28 January 2022 13:17, UK
Michael van Gerwen makes his return to action this weekend at the Ladbrokes Masters, with Colin Lloyd calling on the three-time world champion to show the darting world his true potential.
Van Gerwen lost his world No 1 status after a frustrating 2021, where he failed to win a major title and was forced to withdraw from the PDC World Championships at the Alexandra Palace after testing positing for Covid-19.
The Dutchman believes he remains the best player in the sport ahead of his last-16 match against Devon Petersen or Luke Humphries, while Lloyd feels Van Gerwen needs to "turn up" and prove that he is still at the level he says he is.
"MVG will be hyped and pumped to get back up there," Lloyd told The Darts Show podcast. "He keeps telling us he's the best player in the world when he turns up, well turn up then! You can't keep saying I'm the best player in the world if you don't turn up.
"He's going to have a tough opener in the fact he's possibly got to play Luke Humphries, and we know that Humphries is absolutely stoked about how he's playing at the minute.
"Humphries knows how good he is and the likes of MVG, Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton and Peter Wright don't scare him. He knows he has the firepower in his right hand to get rid of these guys, and they all know that.
"It will be interesting to see what sort of runs some of the so-called big guns have. Have they been a bit lazy since Christmas or have they been putting the hard work in? Only time will tell and we'll find out this weekend."
The Darts Show podcast also reflected on the storylines from Q School, where female hopefuls Lisa Ashton and Fallon Sherrock both missed out on securing the PDC Tour cards for 2022, with Lloyd expecting to see plenty of the pair over the year ahead.
"In the world of darts you don't get handed anything, you have to work hard for it," Lloyd added. "Fallon's worked hard for it and I'm not sure even she thought she would get all this limelight and everything of being a professional darts player.
"It's a slip-up. Everybody's entitled to a slip-up and she obviously just didn't have a good few days, but doesn't make her a bad player as she certainly isn't.
"We've seen her throw some unbelievably good stuff. Like I said about Lisa Ashton, they haven't got their Tour card now and they've got to channel that focus into other areas and other events.
"The way those two ladies play darts, that's going to be a joy in itself to watch those two go hammer and tongs at each other. As and when opportunities arise, we'll probably see them at a PDC event anyway, possibly the Grand Slam."
Luke Humphries discusses this weekend's Masters, his Premier League ambitions, his run at the World Championship, his new fitness regime and why the new generation of player takes the sport so seriously with the money on offer.
Ross Montgomery was also on the show after winning his Tour Card at Q-School. The Scot talks about why he decided to give the PDC Tour a go, his ambitions for 2022 and how he felt after the demise of the BDO. Michael Bridge and Colin Lloyd also make some predictions for the 2022 season.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. Watch the Premier League every Thursday on Sky Sports, starting on Feb 3!
