The two best darts players of this Premier League season faced each other in the final of round thirteen on Thursday. Michael van Gerwen, who earlier in the evening dealt with Joe Cullen and Michael Smith, had to acknowledge his superiority in Jonny Clayton in the final: 6-3.
Van Gerwen and Clayton were level in the final for a long time, until 4-3. Mighty Mike had a chance to tie the score, but four darts on a double went wrong. There was immediately the story of this round, because Van Gerwen only hit 27 percent of all the chances he got for the doubles. Clayton took advantage of those misses to take a 5-3 lead.
In the next leg, the Welsh darts player finished it, taking his fourth stage win of this Premier League season. Van Gerwen remains on three day victories due to the defeat.
Van Gerwen was good all evening in scoring, but he had a lot of problems in the doubles. “I was not great all evening. It was not one hundred percent concentrated. Still got three points and the final. The doubles were just dramatic today. I can blame that on myself, in the end I just have to be happy with three points,” he said versus ViaPlay.
Van Gerwen was told that he managed to hit just over a quarter of the doubles. “That is below average. That’s just not good enough, done.” Yet there was also satisfaction, because the play-offs have almost certainly been reached. “That’s the most important thing. But of course you want more, that’s why it sucks.”
Road to the final
In the quarterfinals and semifinals, a decisive leg had to be involved in Van Gerwen’s match. Mighty Mike started the thirteenth round with a game against Joe Cullen. He took a 5-2 lead, but then saw Cullen take three legs in a row. This was partly due to a lot of misses on Van Gerwen’s doubles. In the end it was the darts player from Vlijmen who won.
In the semi-finals, Van Gerwen was 6-5 too strong for Michael Smith. After trailing 2-0, the Englishman took a 4-2 lead after winning four legs in a row. This time MvG came back in the game well. With a 104 finish, Van Gerwen eventually made it to the final.
Second
Van Gerwen remains second in the Premier League standings. The gap to Clayton is now six points. The lead over James Wade is three points, while number four Peter Wright is already eight points less.