Michael van Gerwen lost top position in Premier League after lost final

Clayton was allowed to start the match, so that Van Gerwen already knew before the match that he had to win at least one leg that his opponent could start. He already did that in the fifth leg, impressively. He took a 3-2 lead through two double nineteens.

In the next leg, he crawled through the eye of the needle when Clayton hit a double. He missed, but Van Gerwen took the next chance and made it 4-2. The Ferret fought back to 4-4 and also got the chance to take the lead again. Distracted by a whistle from the audience, it went wrong, after which Van Gerwen placed another break. But again Clayton fought back.

An eleventh and decisive leg followed. Van Gerwen did not give in in the last leg, also because he became frustrated by the behavior of referee Russ Bray. Someone in the audience was constantly whistling. Bray wanted that to stop. “But I was the victim of that,” said Van Gerwen afterwards in front of the Viaplay camera. “Clayton was yelled at, that happens to me a hundred times a year. You know he’s not going to stop or you have to throw him out. Every time I wanted to throw, he turned around. I’m the victim of that, that’s sour “, said Van Gerwen, who emphasized that the credits should also go to Clayton. “He was good. And sharp, very sharp.”

changeable evening
Van Gerwen reached the final by beating Gerwyn Price and James Wade. Mighty Mike started the eleventh round against Price. The number two and three in the world kept each other in balance for a long time, until Van Gerwen suddenly started throwing very well from the sixth leg. A 2-3 deficit was converted into a 5-3 lead in a very short time. In those three legs won, the Brabant darter achieved an extremely high average of over 126.

Van Gerwen eventually won 6-3, allowing him to prepare for a semi-final against Wade. The Englishman has been in the final for the past three Premier League evenings and is always a difficult opponent for MvG. Partly due to Wade’s delaying play, Van Gerwen threw much less than against Price, he also had more trouble on the doubles. However, he did not run into problems, via a business-like 6-3 victory he qualified for the final battle.

Ranking
Due to the defeat, Van Gerwen has lost the lead in the Premier League. The lead over Clayton was one, now he is one point behind. For the pair, the final was the fifth game against each other in the prestigious tournament this year. In the first four matches, both darters managed to win twice.