Aspinall fought back in the second part of the race and almost made Van Gerwen falter, with a few finishes above 100. No, Van Gerwen didn’t get it as a gift. “Normally you have to be lucky that ten to fifteen percent of the finishes go in, but with him they all flew in,” said Van Gerwen afterwards. via play.
He kept his cool, but wasn’t cool enough. He missed his first three match darts. Aspinall took advantage of the opportunity and came back to 15-14, while trailing 15-10. ,,You have to keep the focus, because you don’t want to play that extra time,’ said Van Gerwen, who eventually finished it with a 146-finish. “This couldn’t have come at a better time. I was many times better, then you also want to win the race.”
On Saturday evening he will meet Dimitri van den Bergh in the semi-final, who defeated defending champion Peter Wright after a thriller. ,,A fantastic player”, said Van Gerwen about his opponent. But before the violence breaks out, he will enjoy a day off. ,,After that I’m going to shoot again.”