Michael van Gerwen returned to competitive darts in emphatic fashion, beating Dimitri van den Bergh 8-3 to win the inaugural Poland Darts Masters at the COS Torwar in Warsaw.
The Green Machine claimed consecutive World Series Events after beating Jeff Smith at the start of June to win the US Darts Masters.
The Vlijmen thrower had only recently returned from a spell out after ruling himself out of representing Holland at the 2023 World Cup of Darts, due to a dental operation.
MVG claimed £30,000 in prize money after beating recent European Darts Matchplay winner Luke Humphries in the Quarter Finals, before winning a repeat of the 2023 World Championship Final, beating World Champion Michael Smith in the last four match up.
“I’ve just come back from surgery, and I’ve had a really tough couple of weeks. You have to stand up and you have to battle. I always say if I am competing in something, I want to win it, and this feels amazing.”
Van Gerwen opened his campaign in the inaugural World Series Event with a 6-3 win over recent UK Open Semi Finalist Adam Gawlas, with the former 3 Time World Champion including 5 180s and a 46.15% finishing rate.
Krzysztof Ratajski was the only home favourite to advance to the Quarter Finals on the opening day, after he beat 2018 World Champion Rob Cross 6-3 on Friday.
Danny Noppert also claimed a win on his first appearance on the World Series stage in 2023, after beating home favourite Radek Szaganski 6-2 including a 110 finish in the third leg to break the throw. The Freeze ran reigning World Champion Michael Smith close in the Quarter Finals, but fell to a 6-4 defeat against the World Number 1 despite throwing an average of 103.36 with finishes of 94 and 112.
Saturday featured MVG’s campaign in the last Quarter Final of the tournament, against Luke Humphries who booked his spot in the Last 8 with a whitewash win over Hungarian international Nandor Major. Both players averaged over a ton in the contest, but it was Mighty Mike who was the superior of the two missing just one dart at double in averaging a stunning 110.79 and winning 6-2.
Cool Hand Luke took his 2 opportunities at double and averaged 104.97 himself, but it was the Green Machine who advanced including checkouts of 121 and 146 to win the opening two legs of the match. The Winmau player moved into the Semi Finals where he would face World No 1 Michael Smith, with Bully Boy including a 155 finish on Double 19 to take the opening leg on throw.
It was Van Gerwen though who made the breakthrough, finding consecutive breaks of throw to take a 5-2 lead in the Polish capital. The World Number 3 broke for the third time in the 9th leg before wrapping up a 7-3 win in the Semi Finals, scoring 104.02 and missing just four darts at double.
MVG moved onto face Dimitri van den Bergh in the Final, with the Dream Maker beating Gerwyn Price in the Semi Finals and Krzysztof Ratajski in the Quarters. The Belgian international held throw only once in the Final as Van Gerwen went into overdrive, averaging a stunning 113.22 including 6 180s and a 92 checkout in the 6th leg to break the throw.
Michael wrapped up the title with an 86 checkout, hitting Double 16 with his last dart after finding the Treble 18 with his first. “Dimitri played well in the final, but this weekend I think I was unstoppable. Fair play to all the Polish darts fans. Honestly, I didn’t expect this. The atmosphere blew me away, and I hope I can come back here next year.”
The win puts Van Gerwen in high spirits ahead of the defence of the Betfred World Matchplay next week, where he will face fellow Winmau player Brendan Dolan in the First Round at the Winter Gardens. Before Blackpool, two more Players Championships are coming up at the Morningside Arena in Leicester on Monday and Tuesday.
2023 Poland Darts Masters Results:
Quarter Finals:
Gerwyn Price (1) 6-3 Nathan Aspinall Dimitri van den Bergh 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael Smith (2) 6-4 Danny Noppert
Michael van Gerwen (3) 6-2 Luke Humphries
Semi Finals:
Dimitri van den Bergh 7-6 Gerwyn Price (1)
Michael van Gerwen (3) 7-3 Michael Smith (2)
Final:
Michael van Gerwen (3) 8-3 Dimitri van den Bergh
—–ENDS—–
Images: Simon O’Conner /PDC
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