Ryan Searle admitted he hasn’t been enjoying darts lately after losing to Michael van Gerwen at the German Grand Prix.
The world number 18 suffered a 6-1 defeat to the Dutchman in the last-16 in Munich, who went on the win the entire tournament.
GettyRyan Searle has won six PDC ranking titles in his career[/caption]It proved a challenging night for Searle, with Van Gerwen rediscovering his best form after struggling in recent months.
‘Mighty Mike’ took the opening two legs, before his English opponent pulled one back to half the deficit.
But it was Van Gerwen who was rampant from then on, taking a 3-1 lead before hitting his first nine-darter in 212 days in the fourth leg.
After the three-time world champion rounded off the feat with a double 12, he was met with a fist-bump from Searle, acknowledging his opponent’s impressive achievement.
But after the match, the Englishman admitted he hasn’t been enjoying competing recently, having experienced a dip in form.
‘Heavy Metal’ peaked earlier this year when he won Players Championship 4 in February, but has only reached the quarter-finals at one Pro Tour event since then.
Opening up after defeat to Van Gerwen, Searle said: “In the last week I have fallen out of love with darts a little bit.”
Despite the worrying admission, the 37-year-old revealed a brief rest from his hectic darts calendar had helped him with his struggles.
Having competed at Players Championship 13 and 14 in Rosmalen, Holland earlier in the week, Searle was then given an extra day off before starting his German Grand Prix campaign after entering the draw as a seeded player.
He explained: “It was nice to get home from Rosmalen and get the call to say I am a seed for the German Grand Prix so I could have an extra day off.
PDCMichael van Gerwen blew a kiss to the Munich crowd after his nine-darter against Searle[/caption] PDCThe Englishman applauded his rival, but later admitted he has found life on the darts circuit difficult lately[/caption]“I haven’t touched my darts till the day before the tournament began and I think that reset helped me.”
Before being well beaten by Van Gerwen, Searle claimed a 6-2 victory over Cameron Menzies in the second round.
Despite the comfortable scoreline however, he averaged just 90.07 against the Scot, who recently quit his day job as a plumber.
And Searle revealed he hadn’t been happy with his level of performance that day, but was still pleased to grind out the win.
The Devon native “I was expecting a bit more from Cammy to push me on but it was just one of those games where we both underperformed.
“It’s nice to get through when you are not playing at your best, because my last couple of games that I have lost on the Euro Tour I averaged over 100.
GettySearle has reached the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship on three occasions[/caption]“Everyone knows it’s not easy to play on big stages like this but when the fans are cheering for you and showing their appreciation it makes it a bit easier.”
Searle has won six PDC ranking titles in his career, but hasn’t managed to add to his tally since his Players Championship 4 triumph earlier this year.
Meanwhile, his last quarter-final appearance of a major came at the World Matchplay in 2023.
The Devon native isn’t the only darts player to open up on their struggles with the sport lately, with world number one Luke Humphries making headlines after saying he ‘needed a break’ from the game’s hectic schedule.
Luke Littler has also discussed his fears of burnout, and has even opted out of certain tournaments this year, including the International Darts Open, in a bid to pace himself.
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