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The three-time world champion was forced to exit the World Darts Championship following a positive Covid test

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Michael van Gerwen throws TWO nine-dart finishes in a row

An angry Michael van Gerwen has hit out at tournament organisers after he was forced to withdraw from the William Hill World Darts Championship following a positive Covid test.

The three-time champion was set to play tonight in the third round against Chris Dobey at Alexandra Palace.

However, Van Gerwen exited the tournament after testing positive meaning Dobey was given a bye through to the last 16.

The Dutchman, who is asymptomatic, became the third player to have contracted the virus during this year’s championship.

“Really disappointed, confused, angry the way how my world championship is ending,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Never expected this outcome as I thought I did everything in my possibility to avoid it. Also ain’t got any symptoms.

“Closing this year of (sic) really quickly. Fans I’ll be back stronger!”

Van Gerwen, however, was left less than impressed by what transpired, which follows on from fellow countryman Vincent Van Der Voort having also tested positive and being forced into isolation.

“Of course our health is the most important thing, but you are here to win the tournament,” Van Gerwen told Dutch media outlet AD Sportwereld.

“I never saw this coming. Vincent and I have been almost nowhere. We didn’t even go to the breakfast room (at the hotel), because we thought it was too busy there.

“We get to sit here together now, but we had imagined this very differently. Again, this is really the biggest nightmare.

“I test myself here every day. I don’t know where I got it. Yet we are the loser.”

Raymond Van Barneveld had also tested positive after beginning to feel unwell in the wake of his 3-1 defeat by Rob Cross on Thursday night.

Van Der Voort was then was forced to pull out ahead of his scheduled match against James Wade on Monday.

Following Van Barneveld’s positive test, organisers insisted all necessary precautions were in place to safeguard both players and fans at the event.

Van Gerwen, though, feels more could be done to limit the spread of the virus

“They actually have to check everyone at the door every day, they didn’t do that. According to the British Government, this is not necessary, but to protect your own organisation and the World Championship, that would have been useful,” the Dutchman said.

“The PDC will at all times say that they have followed the rules of the Government, but they could have been looked at more closely.

“The control has not been strong enough. It is just a big corona bomb now.

“It is as leaky as a basket, now I pay a high price. I haven’t done anything at all, that makes it extra sour.”

In response to Van Gerwen’s comments, the PDC said in a statement to the PA news agency on Tuesday evening: “We hope both Vincent and Michael remain in good health and share their disappointment that they were unable to continue in the tournament.

“We won’t comment on individual players’ circumstances and we continue to follow approved protocols at the William Hill World Darts Championship, which includes testing for all players involved in the event.”

The withdrawal of third seed Van Gerwen will open up the draw, with Dobey set to take on either Dave Chisnall or Luke Humphries for a quarter-final place.

In Tuesday afternoon’s session, Martijn Kleermaker edged out Joe Cullen 4-3 in their third-round match.

The Dutchman, making his debut at Alexandra Palace, had moved into a three-set lead, only for Cullen to launch a fightback and force a decider, with Kleermaker going on to clinch it 4-2.

Players Championship runner-up Ryan Searle saw off Danny Noppert 4-2 to move into the last 16, while Mervyn King had earlier coasted to a 4-0 win over Irishman Steve Lennon.

Gabriel Agbonlahor has slammed Cristiano Ronaldo for ‘sulking’ throughout Manchester United’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Newcastle United and claims three players are intimidated by the Portugal legend.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure as United were held to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park on Monday night.

Second-half substitute Edinson Cavani cancelled out Allan Saint-Maximin’s superb opener but Ralf Rangnick’s side were unable to find a winner as they stayed seventh in the Premier League.

Former Aston Villa star Agbonlahor has criticised Ronaldo’s performance and says Rangnick would drop the club legend ‘if he had anything about him’.

Ronaldo has scored 13 goals in 18 appearances since returning to Old Trafford in the summer but Agbonlahor believes he is affecting the ‘harmony’ in the dressing room and inadvertently intimidating Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho.

‘It looks to me like Ronaldo just cares about his goals,’ Agbonlahor told Football Insider. ‘That performance from Ronaldo was somebody sulking all game.

‘He was throwing his hands up in the air because he wasn’t getting chances. Then after the game, he runs off the pitch sulking and I imagine he’s sulking in the changing room.

‘His attitude was off. If I’m Rashford, Greenwood and Sancho I’m scared to have a shot. Every time they have a shot he’s got his arms up to say, “Why haven’t you passed to me?”

‘The harmony is not right in that changing room. The form of Rashford and Greenwood has dropped since Ronaldo has been there.

‘They can’t express themselves, it’s like they think, “I have to pass to Ronaldo, I have to create a chance for Ronaldo”.

‘Before Ronaldo came, Greenwood was taking players on and shots on and he’s not doing that anymore and getting dragged at half-time.

‘If I was Rashford, Greenwood or Sancho I’d be saying to myself, “Oh, why did we have to bring him here?”

‘He’s an amazing player who has had an amazing career but he’s not the same player he was. United played their best football of the season against Chelsea with Ronaldo on the bench.

‘Rashford, Greenwood and Sancho can play as a front three rotating positions and running in behind. If the manager had anything about him, he’d drop Ronaldo for the next game.’

Manchester United continue their Premier League campaign on Thursday night against relegation-battlers Burnley.

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Jurgen Klopp has no excuses about the Premier League schedule as Liverpool face falling TWELVE points behind Manchester City, warns Alan Shearer… and Thierry Henry claims the faltering Reds have suffered from a ‘weird’ atmosphere in recent weeks

By Ben Miller For Mailonline

Published: 00:15 GMT, 29 December 2021 | Updated: 01:25 GMT, 29 December 2021

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will be alarmed by his side’s sudden loss of energy and cannot use fixture scheduling as an excuse, Alan Shearer has warned after the Reds’ defeat at Leicester.

Mohamed Salah missed several chances including a penalty and Sadio Mane should have scored as Klopp oversaw a wasteful 1-0 loss to a second-half strike by Ademola Lookman at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday.

Klopp described his players’ performance as ‘really bad’ and admitted that he was not primarily concerned about falling further behind City, who can move 12 points above his team by winning the two games they will play before the Reds are next in action.

Jurgen Klopp (second from right) could not stop Liverpool from slipping to defeat at Leicester

Ademola Lookman (left) punished the Reds for their unusual misfiring by scoring the winner

The frustrated manager could not pinpoint why Liverpool had played poorly after a five-day break while some of their rivals have faced a more hectic schedule. 

Shearer told Amazon Prime Video Sport: ‘Man City have been relentless in their performance but [Klopp] is right – that’s not his concern.

‘What would be his concern is the way his team played. He hasn’t really got the excuse of playing two games in two days but his team were flat, they didn’t play well.

‘They got into good positions but their final ball was poor. Yes, they had a penalty miss; yes, they missed a sitter with Mane.

Klopp held his hands up and admitted that he did not know why his team had underperformed

‘But the Liverpool that we have got used to watching plays with energy, plays on the front foot, closes you down with intensity. We didn’t really see enough of that.’

Fellow legendary striker Thierry Henry claimed Liverpool’s form had already dipped during their win at home to Newcastle on December 16, draw at Tottenham three days later and victory on penalties over the Foxes in the Carabao Cup before Christmas. 

Henry said: ‘There were already [bad] signs in the games against Newcastle and the cup against Leicester.

‘Yes, it wasn’t the same starting lineup – but against Tottenham there were signs of them not being at their best.

Mohamed Salah had a penalty stopped after 15 minutes and hit the crossbar from the rebound

‘There was kind of a weird atmosphere and momentum. They just got by. Before those games, they were killing teams.’

Liverpool are level with Chelsea in second and six points behind City after failing to score for the first time in 35 games.

City travel to Brentford on Wednesday and Arsenal on Saturday before Liverpool visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday.