Darter Michael van Gerwen has reached the quarter finals of the Grand Slam of Darts tournament with some difficulty. The 33-year-old Van Gerwen defeated Josh Rock from Northern Ireland 10-8 in Wolverhampton on Thursday evening in a high-level match. Rock caused a sensation by finishing the second leg of the match with a nine-dart finish.
The 21-year-old Rock announced in advance that he was not afraid of ‘Mighty Mike’, the three-time winner of the Grand Slam of Darts. Even after he had handed in the first leg he had started himself, he kept that confidence. After two times 180 he threw with triple 20, triple 19 and double 12 the leg after which he shouted with joy.
After that, the party went on for a long time. Rock didn’t get in trouble because he barely missed on the doubles. Only at 7-7 did Van Gerwen manage to win the leg that Rock had started. He did that with a score of 142. At 9-8, the Vlijmenaar missed his first two match arrows, but on the third it was a hit.
Van Gerwen will compete in the quarterfinals against the winner of the match between the English darts players Luke Humphries and Ross Smith.
Hats off
Van Gerwen indicated that he should have gone very deep. “He played a fantastic game and started right away with a nine-darter,” ‘Mighty Mike’ told Viaplay. “But I showed that I can handle anything. I wanted to keep the concentration and knew that the opportunities would come naturally. Every time, however, he hit the double with one arrow. Then you have to show something special. That I do that was able, is very satisfying. But hats off to that boy.”
The young English darts player saw ‘a dream come true’ in his second major televised tournament by hitting a nine-dart finish. “I had promised a fantastic match in advance and that happened. It didn’t go my way, but I’m not disappointed at all.”