Players Championship Event One: Michael van Gerwen takes victory
Michael van Gerwen clinched the first Players Championship title of the year as he beat James Wade 6-4 in the final of Event One at the Barnsley Metrodome.
The 28-year-old was dominant throughout and averaged 103.8 in the final as he scooped the 101st PDC title of his career, and the £10,000 winners prize.
It’s a fourth title of the year for the Dutchman, having previously won the Unibet Masters and two UK Open qualifiers.
Wade, playing in his first ProTour final for over a year, started the final brightly as he broke throw on double 12 for a 1-0 lead.
Van Gerwen responded immediately however, landing his first 180 of the clash and an 81 checkout to restore parity.
He then held throw before breaking again on tops to move into a 3-1 lead.
But his finishing then started to evade him, allowing Wade to recover and level at 3-3.
The Dutchman then landed six perfect darts as he teased a nine-dart attempt, missing the seventh before landing a 48 checkout to lead once more.
Again, the requisite doubles escaped Van Gerwen, and Wade levelled on tops for 4-4.
But there was no stopping the Dutchman from then on, as he landed a fifth 180 before a 68 checkout, and then sealed the title on D18.
Despite dropping only 12 legs across the course of the day, Van Gerwen still wasn’t too happy with his performance.
"I didn’t play my best game today, the first two rounds were poor. I won both 6-0 but that doesn’t mean anything," said the Dutchman.
"For the rest of the day I played okay, I am really glad I won but I did miss too many doubles in the final. It’s a long day and I am only human."
When asked as to whether he would be playing in tomorrow’s event, he joked: "It is nice when you are away from home and you win.
"There are no flights home tonight any more, so I will be back tomorrow."
Van Gerwen started the day with whitewash victories over Terry Temple and Jermaine Wattimena.
A 6-1 victory over Josh Payne was to follow, before his first big test came in a 6-4 win over Danny Noppert.
Another whitewash came against Dave Chisnall in the last 16, and he then booked his place in the final in style with a bull-14-bull finish to beat Gerwyn Price 6-3.
Wade’s run to the final started with a last leg victory over Paul Rowley. He then comfortably dealt with Antonio Alcinas 6-2 and Chris Dobey 6-1.
The Machine then averaged a staggering 111 in a 6-0 victory over John Henderson.
But arguably his best performance of the day came as he beat World Champion Rob Cross 6-5 to reach the semi-finals.
There he beat Ryan Joyce 6-4, who was enjoying a great run in his first Players Championship event, to reach the final with van Gerwen.
Joyce, who secured his tour card back in January, beat Steve West, Ryan Harrington, Wayne Jones, Michael Barnard and Ron Meulenkamp to scoop £3,000.
Elsewhere, it was a good day for Premier League star Price, who beat Paul Nicholson, Martin Atkins, Stephen Bunting, Michael Smith and Ian White before running into an in-form van Gerwen in the final four.
It was a disappointing outing for Peter Wright as he crashed out in the second round, whilst Adrian Lewis, Raymond van Barneveld and Gary Anderson were all third round casualties.
Players Championship Event One results
Last 128
Michael van Gerwen 6-0Terry Temple
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Chris Quantock
Peter Jacques 6-3 Zoran Lerchbacher
Josh Payne 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Danny Noppert 6-2 Alan Norris
Ross Smith 6-1 Lee Bryant
Robert Marijanovic 6-1 Darren Webster
William O'Connor 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Dave Chisnall 6-0John Goldie
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Adam Hunt
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Tytus Kanik 6-4 Joe Murnan
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Devon Petersen
Keegan Brown 6-5 Christian Kist
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Jamie Lewis
Jose Justicia 6-3 John Part
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Jamie Bain 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
James Wilson 6-2 Davy Van Baelen
Tony Newell 6-5 Jason Cullen
Ian White 6-4 Aden Kirk
Madars Razma 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Michael Smith 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Vincent Kamphuis 6-4 Sven Groen
Stephen Burton 6-1 Justin Pipe
Mark Wilson 6-2 Jamie Caven
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Martin Atkins (Wigan) 6-4 Scott Darbyshire
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Martin Schindler
Robert Owen 6-4 Jan Dekker
Peter Wright 6-0Ryan Searle
Wayne Jones 6-5 Luke Humphries
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Steve West
Ryan Harrington 6-4 Ricky Evans
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Corey Cadby 6-0Mick McGowan
Steve Beaton 6-2 Darren Johnson
Michael Barnard 6-4 Dawson Murschell
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Diogo Portela
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Richard North
Alan Tabern 6-0Bradley Brooks
Mervyn King 6-1 Max Hopp
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Maik Langendorf
Cristo Reyes 6-2 Eddie Dootson
Kevin Painter 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Chris Dobey 6-5 Joe Cullen
George Killington 6-4 Scott Taylor
James Wade 6-5 Paul Rowley
Toni Alcinas 6-5 Matthew Edgar
Robbie Green 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Peter Hudson 6-5 Mark Webster
John Henderson 6-0Steve Hine
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Rob Cross 6-5 Steve Lennon
Richie Burnett 6-3 James Richardson
Mario Robbe 6-2 Robert Thornton
Arron Monk 6-4 Simon Stevenson
Gary Anderson 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Gary Eastwood
Jim Brown 6-2 Ross Twell
Last 64
Michael van Gerwen 6-0Jermaine Wattimena
Josh Payne 6-3 Peter Jacques
Danny Noppert 6-4 Ross Smith
William O'Connor 6-4 Robert Marijanovic
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Tytus Kanik
Keegan Brown 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Jose Justicia
Jamie Bain 6-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez
James Wilson 6-1 Tony Newell
Ian White 6-4 Madars Razma
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Michael Smith 6-5 Vincent Kamphuis
Stephen Burton 6-0Mark Wilson
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Martin Atkins (Wigan)
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Robert Owen
Wayne Jones 6-4 Peter Wright
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Ryan Harrington
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Corey Cadby
Michael Barnard 6-5 Steve Beaton
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Alan Tabern
Terry Jenkins 6-2 Mervyn King
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Kevin Painter
Chris Dobey 6-2 George Killington
James Wade 6-2 Toni Alcinas
Peter Hudson 6-4 Robbie Green
John Henderson 6-1 Ritchie Edhouse
Rob Cross 6-2 Richie Burnett
Arron Monk 6-4 Mario Robbe
Gary Anderson 6-1 Andrew Gilding
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Jim Brown
Last 32
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Josh Payne
Danny Noppert 6-5 William O'Connor
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Keegan Brown 6-3 Adrian Lewis
James Wilson 6-2 Jamie Bain
Ian White 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Michael Smith 6-1 Stephen Burton
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Wayne Jones
Michael Barnard 6-0Kyle Anderson
Ron Meulenkamp 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Cristo Reyes
James Wade 6-1 Chris Dobey
John Henderson 6-2 Peter Hudson
Rob Cross 6-2 Arron Monk
Benito van de Pas 6-5 Gary Anderson
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Danny Noppert
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Keegan Brown
Ian White 6-1 James Wilson
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Michael Smith
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Michael Barnard
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Terry Jenkins
James Wade 6-0John Henderson
Rob Cross 6-1 Benito van de Pas
Last Eight
Michael van Gerwen 6-0Dave Chisnall
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Ian White
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
James Wade 6-5 Rob Cross
Last Four
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Gerwyn Price
James Wade 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 James Wade