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PDC World Championship: Sky Sports Wayne Mardle wants more from Michael van Gerwen

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Wayne Mardle says that Michael van Gerwen needs to become more ruthless

Wayne Mardle claims world No 1 Michael van Gerwen needs to become more dominant in matches if he is to become a back-to-back PDC title holder.

'Mighty Mike' survived a scare in his first round match against Joe Cullen before coming through 3-1 on the opening night at the Alexandra Palace.

The World Grand Prix and European Championship winner has has a mixed season on the PDC circuit and will be desperate to defend his crown in north London.

Match stats
Cullen MVG
93.14 Average 96.96
47.37% Checkout % 35.48%
161 Best finish 104
27 100s 17
15 140s 16
4 180s 8

But Sky Sports expert Mardle feels the Dutchman 'goes to sleep' far too often in matches which could eventually come back to bite him later on in the tournament.

Dominance

The former world championship semi-finalist said: "The thing is with world champions and champions in general is that they usually come up with something us mere mortals can't do - that is produce when they have to produce. That's what Michael did.

"He should be dominating players that average 93, that's no disrespect to Cullen. He should be averaging 100, rolling along, turning them over and making them look sub-standard because he is that good.

"He goes to sleep far too often in matches. You never see Phil Taylor look perplexed - he might look frustrated or annoyed. Michael has an ability that we don't see very often but he has to use it time and time again."

More from Darts World Championship 2015

Van Gerwen will next face either world No 32 Stuart Kellett or qualifiers Kim Viljanen or Sascha Stein in the second round.

Watch the PDC World Championship live on Sky Sports Darts from December 18. For information on how to upgrade to Sky Sports head to www.skysports.com/watch/get-sky 

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