MICHAEL van Gerwen suffered in one of darts' biggest ever upsets after losing to an Irish care worker in front of a home crowd. Michael Flynn 32, defied the odds to beat the three-time world champion 6-5 in Monday's first round of the third Players Championship. Van Gerwen was beaten on home soil in Rosmalen, the Netherlands. Flynn's average of 92.41 in the match was lower than Van Gerwen's 97.01 but he held his nerve at the crucial moments.
![[6 February 2025; Michael van Gerwen reacts during their semi-final match against Luke Humphries on night one of the BetMGM Premier League Darts at SSE Arena in Belfast. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ac372bfb-e8b6-492e-bb72-264d5733eaf6.jpg?strip=all&w=799)
He works in social care in County Limerick in his day job and was only added to the PDC event's entry list on Sunday morning. His inclusion came after several late withdrawals from the tournament. The last-minute phone call meant a three-hour dash by car from his home on the West coast of Ireland to Dublin airport. Flynn told the BBC: "MVG wasn't the name you want to see as your first opponent - you'd hope for an easier game.
"I knew my form was good coming into the tournament but to beat a three-time world champion is a massive moment in my career.". Flynn - nicknamed 'the Flyer' - is ranked 11th on the Challenge Tour, which is used as a reserve list for Players Championship events. Van Gerwen appeared in his first Players Championship tournament of the year at the Autotron Centre in Rosmalen. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS.
Flynn was beaten 6-4 by Poland's Tytus Kanik in the next round but was proud to get past the PDC world championship finalist. He added: "When you are playing someone like Van Gerwen you have to tune in from the get-go. It opened my eyes to the professional circuit, the standard you have to be at from the off if you want to get a win. "It will give me confidence moving forward and shows me my game is there if I can continue it and take it back to the Challenge Tour.".
World No 10 Chris Dobey won the overall tournament with a comfortable 8-4 victory over Dutch outsider Jelle Klaasen in the final. The second part of the Rosmalen double-header will take place on Tuesday. BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included.
