Michael van Gerwen made an early statement of intent with a 3-0 win over James Hurrell in round 2. The Dutch destroyer put in a polished display to secure his place in the 3rd round. The former 3-time world champion averaged a shade under 95 and racked up 5 180s. Now that the competition is moving into a first to 4 sets format, van Gerwen looks well placed to deliver 6 or more maximums against Brendan Dolan. At the exact same stage of the World Darts Championship last year, ‘Mighty Mike’ produced 8 maximums when putting compatriot Richard Veenstra to the sword. In his subsequent fixture with Stephen Bunting - which was also a race to 4 sets - van Gerwen went 1 better in hitting 9 180s. It’s also worth noting that MVG has hit almost 450 maximums across 2024 to date. After hitting a pair of 3-figure finishes during his round 2 win over Hurrell, van Gerwen can repeat the trick with at least 1 against Dolan. The world number 3 took out a 120 checkout against the ‘Hillbilly’ in the first set before finishing on 100 to win 1 of the legs during set 2 of the game.