Michael van Gerwen continues to thrive in Premier League darts. Also on Thursday evening, during the eighth round, the Vlijmenaar reached the final. But he had nothing to say against the Welshman Gerwyn Price.
Van Gerwen started the eighth round with a match against the Scotsman Peter Wright. That game was tied for a long time and ‘MVG’ had in the decisive put needed a nice 150 throwout – while ‘Snakebite’ was poised to finish 116 out – to qualify for the next round.
Threatening whitewash
In the semi-finals, ‘Mighty Mike’ then had no trouble with the Englishman Nathan Aspinall, who dealt with the Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh one round earlier. Van Gerwen put ‘The Asp’ aside 6-0.
That promised something for the final against Gerwyn Price. But ‘MVG’ had to be the first in that put, which he was allowed to start, immediately relinquish. This turned out to be the harbinger of a tough match. With a ten and twelve darter, the Welshman walked further away from Van Gerwen. Equally threatened and so-called whitewash for Van Gerwen – a 6-0 loss – but the Vlijmenaar knew that by hitting the double ten in the sixth put to prevent. But this turned out to be only a stay of execution. One inning later, Price – who averaged 114.96 per inning – finished the job with a ten-darter on double twenty.
Stand
Van Gerwen is still leading the Premier League darts with 25 points. Price, who also won the round in Nottingham last week, follows on seven points.
“I’ve been playing really well the last few weeks,” said the Welshman after the final. “It’s nice to play like that. Especially against Michael you need this to win.”
The next round, next Thursday, will take place in Berlin, Germany. There Van Gerwen will meet Welshman Jonny Clayton in the first round.