Michael van Gerwen lacks sharpness and criticizes Premier League format: ‘Sometimes there is no point’ | Sport

Van Gerwen added via play immediately after the match that the defeat is due to several factors: ,,It just didn’t make sense, the sharpness was not there tonight. But this format also demands it. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with it. I said that last year, and now again.”

Still, this should not be an excuse for the number one leader of the Premier League. ,,I always want to win, but today I didn’t have the right attitude and that is of course not good. Of course I am disappointed that I am losing, but I am even more disappointed that I have been preparing for 3.5 hours here.”

The format of the Premier League was changed last year. Where players used to only play one match in an evening, nowadays a mini-tournament with quarter-finals, semi-finals and final is played. Finalists therefore play three matches in one evening and the top darts players often face each other. According to critics, this threatens to lead to overkill.

Van Gerwen started his quarter-final match against the Welshman dramatically. In the first leg, which the Dutchman started himself, it was Clayton who got six innings to break MVG. After that it didn’t get much better. He threw few triples but was still able to keep up because Clayton didn’t throw well either.

With a 3-2 lead for Clayton, the level went up for both men. However, this also resulted in the fact that hardly any break opportunities were created, until the Welshman left a gap at a 4-3 score. Van Gerwen made grateful use of that and came alongside.

In the end it came to a decisive leg. Clayton started better than his opponent and Van Gerwen could not keep up. The Welshman decided the match on double 7 with his fourth match dart. In the end, Van Gerwen ‘only’ averaged 89, while Clayton averaged 97.

Perhaps it is little consolation for the man from Brabant that the man who eliminated him won the round in Berlin. In the final Clayton defeated world champion Michael Smith, who came close to a 9-dart finish in the semi-finals. He defeated the Englishman 4-6.

Quarterfinals:
Dimitri Van Den Bergh – Michael Smith 3-6
Nathan Aspinall – Chris Dobey 6-4
Jonny Clayton – Michael van Gerwen 6-5
Peter Wright – Gerwyn Price 3-6

Semi-finals:
Michael Smith – Nathan Aspinall 6-4, Smith was close to a 9-darter (see video below).
Jonny Clayton – Gerwyn Price 6-4

Final:
Michael Smith – Jonny Clayton 4-6