Finals evening began when I met a local youth player who, an hour before the games started, was waiting next to the walk-on, proudly wearing his MVG shirt and hoping for a signature.
After wishing him good luck on getting the signature, it turned out that two of my darting friends got to play a nine dart shootout before the proper action started!Despite a big stage debut they both managed to hit quite some big trebles. So, with the big PDC stars yet to throw a dart my night was already succesful!
For the rest of the AFAS Live, it all depended on Michael van Gerwen’s performance against Josh Rock. First of all, the local youth player got the MVG signature on his shirt! And second of all, Michael van Gerwen and Josh Rock had a close battle until 5-5.
It was Michael van Gerwen who then rolled back the years and found a second gear as he won the third session by 5-0 for a 10-5 lead!The game then ended in an 11-6 victory for the Dutchman who averaged over 102!
Credit to Josh Rock though who now reached at least the semifinals in the last four PDC Premier events!
In semifinal number two defending champion Luke Littler went up against two time winner Gerwyn Price. It seemed like Price was gonna knock the defending winner out. The Welshman took a 9-5 lead.
The following four legs Price, however, missed doubles and lost all of those legs to see his lead disappear. From 9-9, it became 10-10 as we got the only last leg decider of the day.
It was Littler who comfortably won the last leg and complete the 11-10 comeback!
In the final it was all or nothing for the Dutch crowd. Van Gerwen was more clinical on the doubles than Littler and closed out the tie with a 130-checkout for his first PDC Premier Event title in two years!
A sixth World Series Finals crown but in his interview, MVG told me this was the prettiest trophy for the tournament so far!
“They must have known that I was gonna win it” the Dutch number one joked.
Van Gerwen also said that despite a 3 leg lead the 130-finish was still incredibly important as
“Luke can always find another level and come back”.
‘Mighty Mike’ was the first player to beat both Luke’s on his way to a premier event title and reacted as only MVG can react:
“I will make sure I’ll also be the second and the third player to do it!”
MVG winning the title is massive for darts as the titan getting back to his best will give us a lot more high quality battles!
As I am finishing this report in the train right now, some people asked me what I was working on. I told them I was writing a report on a darts event and their reaction was “Oh you were at the event that Michael van Gerwen won?”
To see the news of MVG winning spread this fast already is a very good sign. Maybe this win is not just what darts needed, but also what we need in the Netherlands.
After a few tough years with not much mainstream media attention towards darts here, the Dutchies winning big titles again could really turn the tide!
—–Ends——
Images: Kelly Deckers / PDC Europe
