Michael van Gerwen is on course for his third televised title of 2022 after dropping just one leg against reigning World Champion Peter Wright, recording a 4-0 win in sets to reach the Final of the Boylesports World Grand Prix at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
The Dutchman will face former UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall in the Final, after the Stockport thrower punished numerous missed darts at double from World Number 1 and 2020 champion Gerwyn Price to win 4-2 in the other Semi Final.
The Winmau man opened strong with six legs out of the first six played including the highest finish of the tournament so far in the first leg, hitting the bull in completing a 167 checkout before proceeding to break the World Number 2’s throw in the next.
MVG continued to take control of the match in the second set, breaking with a 94 finish in the first leg before repeating the trick on double ten for a 2-0 lead in sets after seeing his opponent miss numerous darts at double for his first leg of the match.
The Scotsman got his first leg in the third set, breaking back after losing throw in the second leg with a 73 finish. A miscount for Van Gerwen went unpunished after the Dutchman hit 16 thinking he was on 56 when he was actually on 46. Regardless, this didn’t affect the reigning Matchplay champion as he found double fifteen first dart to go within one of another Grand Prix Final.
The Vlijmen ace has won the tournament five times, with the competition being the jumpstart in his darting career after a 5-4 victory over Mervyn King back in 2012 won him his first televised title in what has turned out to be an illustrious darting career.
The former three-time world champion will want to make it six Grand Prix titles as he did Premier League crowns earlier in the year, and double tops last dart to finish 53 secured him his place in Sundays Final where he will face Nathan Aspinall.
The Asp punished 29 missed darts overall from Gerwyn Price in the opening Semi-Final, with the two-time Pro Tour winner missing just twelve recording a checkout rate of 55.56% in Leicester.
Both players included ton-plus finishes through the tie, with the highest being a 127-checkout recorded by the Iceman in the Final set for a break of throw.
The World Number 16 will face MVG again just like they did in Blackpool a few months ago, and everyone that watched the game knows the quality both players served up on the oche. Aspinall secured his spot in the Final thanks to double sixteen with his first dart, followed up with emotion and joy from the supporting crowd.
The Final should be a cracker and with Aspinall knocking the likes of Michael Smith, Danny Noppert and Gerwyn Price all out, can he go all the way and win the competition for the first time against arguably the best player of 2022 so far.
Coverage of the Final gets underway from the Morningside Arena in Leicester from 7:30 on Sunday live on Sky Sports, in a match that will see the winner pick up £120,000 in prize money.
Boylesports World Grand Prix: Semi-Final Results
Nathan Aspinall 4-2 Gerwyn Price (1)
Michael van Gerwen (3) 4-0 Peter Wright (2)
Boylesports World Grand Prix Final:
Nathan Aspinall v Michael van Gerwen (3)
—–ENDS—–
Images: Kieran Cleeves/PDC
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