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| Michael van Gerwen's passion for darts is great for the sport |
He burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced 17-year-old in 2006, when he won the BDO's World Masters, and several other blistering displays in the months that followed made him seemingly destined for greatness.
However, after moving to the superior PDC in 2007, he struggled.
The sense of inevitability he would soon be dominating world darts wavered and he became seen as an erratic and inconsistent player.
Commentators, experts and fans seemed to forget that, as a teenager, setbacks were obviously going to come his way.
They started looking for reasons behind his defeats on TV, labelled him a disappointment and questioned whether he would ever fulfil his obvious talent.
What they didn't realise is that all those defeats and heartbreaks - including an agonising defeat to Phil Taylor in the 2008 World Championship first round, when he missed a dart at double 12 to win - were the making of him. They grounded him and ensured he would never take anything for granted.
However, the criticism and defeats threatened to break van Gerwen.
The Dutchman slipped down the rankings and was forced to participate on the youth tour in order to regain his confidence.
This, seemingly, was the turning point for him.
He found his love of darts again. He found his love of winning again.
van Gerwen twice reached the final of the World Youth Championship and, despite losing on both occasions, he had re-found his belief.
The talent had never gone away and was always waiting to be sparked into life, and over the last 12 months, van Gerwen has delivered.
He has been much improved on TV and on the floor, and that culminated in last night's thrilling 6-4 victory over Mervyn King to win the World Grand Prix.
van Gerwen had been 3-0 and 4-1 down, but dominated the closing stages in front of a delighted Dublin crowd.
He seems to have been around for a long time, but van Gerwen is still only 23. That must be frightening for the other players.
He is only going to get better, and with triumphs like this, his confidence is only going to soar further.
van Gerwen is capable of magic spells in matches to take the game away from his opponent, and that was in full evidence against King.
The Dutchman was occasionally erratic on his finishing doubles, but his scoring bought him so many darts at the double that his misses almost seemed irrelevant.
He won the match - and with it the tournament - with a brilliant 145 checkout to finish in the grandest of style.
As for King, he will have left Dublin wondering what might have been.
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| King missed out on a first major PDC title |
King came across as a bitter loser in his TV interview following the loss and seemed to suggest he would have won if it wasn't for the crowd's behaviour (they repeatedly booed when he was on a double) but this is nothing more than a case of sour grapes.
Yes, the crowd were out of order in booing him, but King could not have expected anything else.
He seemed to cope pretty well with it when he went 3-0 and 4-1 up against van Gerwen, while his semi-final win over local hero Brendan Dolan was played in an even more fervent atmosphere.
To blame the crowd for his defeat will not help King's fortunes in future, as it is likely supporters will only target him even more after seeing what a sore loser he is.
This has been in evidence before, most notably in his BDO days, when he was known to blame defeats on anything ranging from air conditioning to the length of the oche.
He also targeted van Gerwen before the match, criticising the Dutchman's extravagant celebrations during matches, but he was out of order there, too.
Just as King is entitled to keep his cool on stage after sinking crucial doubles, van Gerwen is entitled to let off steam.
His delight at success is part of the package of van Gerwen, and this enthusiasm is part of the reason fans get behind him, along with his fast pace and obvious talent.
It is understandable that King was deeply frustrated after throwing away the match from a dominant position, but his words afterwards will not have done him any favours.
Playing in the PDC, he has to expect raucous atmospheres and his behaviour in the past is always going to make him a target.
If he wants better playing conditions, he should go back to the BDO. No successful darts player with ambition would be so stupid, though.
It seems certain King will forget all about the atmosphere in Dublin the next time he looks in his bank account and sees an extra £40,000 in there - his runner-up prize.
The best prizes, players, excitement, competitions and prestige are on offer in the PDC, and with that comes certain negatives, like the crowd participation King so despises.
As for van Gerwen, he pocketed a cool £100,000 for his win and rocketed up to number eight in the world rankings.
He seems destined to continually improve that ranking as he has finally found his feet.
van Gerwen will now surely be installed as one of the favourites for the World Championships, which start in December.
The usual suspects - Taylor, Adrian Lewis (who van Gerwen beat in Dublin), James Wade and co - will take some beating in the most prestigious tournament in darts, but the Dutchman will be in the mix.
The confidence his triumph in Dublin will give him should carry van Gerwen to even greater heights, and he will be eager to prove himself again at Alexandra Palace.
He is a pure darting talent and has now provided two of the greatest moments of the year in darts - his nine-darter at the World Matchplay in Blackpool and now his maiden major triumph - with the promise of plenty more to follow.
The World Grand Prix may have been van Gerwen's first PDC major title, but it certainly won't be his last.
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