Players Championship Two: Michael van Gerwen collects his fifth darts title of 2018 by thrashing Corey Cadby
Michael van Gerwen thrashed Corey Cadby 6-1 to complete a Players Championship weekend double - although he had to survive a couple of scares earlier on Sunday.
The world number one had triumphed in the opening Players Championship event on Saturday with a 6-4 victory over James Wade and 24 hours later won the second - the 102nd singles title of his career and fifth of the season.
His one-sided 6-1 victory over Cadby sealed the top prize of £10,000 but it would have been a very different story had Luke Woodhouse converted one of his three match darts against MVG in the last 16.
Van Gerwen was taken to a deciding leg against Ryan Searle in the previous round but his other matches were much more straight-forward, beating Steve Lennon (6-1), Jamie Lewis (6-3), Adrian Lewis (6-2), Simon Stevenson (6-2) and Cadby.
Interestingly MVG is the only player to have won five titles before the end of February but he's done it twice before in 2015 and 2016.
The Dutchman, who averaged nearly 102 in the final, told www.pdc.tv: "I didn't have a good day, I played poorly, but I'm still really glad that I won to take tournament win number 102. Every time I had a chance (in the final) I took it and I didn't make a lot of mistakes.
"Corey is a very good player. I think he was trying too hard in the final, but I'm sure he can do some really good things in the future. With his quality, he could easily become a top ten player. He is a great talent and has a great throw."
The Aussie, who won his maiden title on the PDC tour at a recent UK Open Qualifying event, reached his second final of his debut season with victories over Lee Bryant (6-1), Jonny Clayton (6-5), Davy Van Baelen (6-3), Danny Noppert (6-1), Gary Anderson (6-4) and Ian White (6-3).
Elsewhere, it was an impressive day for Simon Stevenson, who reached the semi-finals after most notably completing a 6-0 whitewash over World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney.
It was another disappointing day for world number two Peter Wright, though, as the Scot crashed out in the first round, along with Raymond van Barneveld, Dave Chisnall and James Wade.
Players Championship 2 Results
Last 128
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Steve Lennon
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Paul Rowley 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher
Ryan Searle 6-2 Peter Jacques
Alan Norris 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Terry Jenkins
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Madars Razma
Jan Dekker 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Mark Webster
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Tony Newell
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 George Killington
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Josh Payne
John Goldie 6-5 Prakash Jiwa
Michael Barnard 6-4 James Wade
Richie Burnett 6-1 Ronny Huybrechts
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Alan Tabern
Mick McGowan 6-5 Wayne Jones
Simon Stevenson 6-4 Richard North
Robert Owen 6-0Sven Groen
Mervyn King 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Jimmy Hendriks 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
John Henderson 6-4 Peter Hudson
Kirk Shepherd 6-2 Steve Hine
Toni Alcinas 6-3 Michael Smith
Luke Humphries 6-4 Arron Monk
James Richardson 6-3 Justin Pipe
Ricky Evans 6-1 Ross Twell
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Kevin Painter
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Jamie Caven
Martin Schindler 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Joe Murnan
Dawson Murschell 6-5 Peter Wright
Mario Robbe 6-1 Scott Taylor
Steve West 6-2 Diogo Portela
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Jamie Bain
Kyle Anderson 6-5 Darren Johnson
Tytus Kanik 6-2 Maik Langendorf
Steve Beaton 6-1 Devon Petersen
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Jose Justicia
Terry Temple 6-3 Mark Wilson
James Wilson 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Jason Cullen 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Ian White 6-4 Vincent Kamphuis
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-3 Martin Atkins (Wigan)
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Christian Kist
Chris Quantock 6-5 Chris Dobey
Jarred Cole 6-5 Joe Cullen
Robert Marijanovic 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Mark Dudbridge 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Danny Noppert 6-3 Stephen Burton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Davy Van Baelen 6-1 Eddie Dootson
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Jim Brown
Corey Cadby 6-1 Lee Bryant
Rob Cross 6-2 Scott Darbyshire
Keegan Brown 6-2 John Part
Robert Thornton 6-3 Adam Hunt
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Gary Eastwood
Gary Anderson 6-2 Max Hopp
Ross Smith 6-4 Ryan Harrington
Darren Webster 6-2 Matthew Edgar
Robbie Green 6-4 William O'Connor
Last 64
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Jamie Lewis
Ryan Searle 6-5 Paul Rowley
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Alan Norris
Jan Dekker 6-4 Benito van de Pas
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Simon Whitlock 6-2 John Goldie
Richie Burnett 6-2 Michael Barnard
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Mick McGowan
Simon Stevenson 6-4 Robert Owen
Mervyn King 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Kirk Shepherd 6-3 John Henderson
Luke Humphries 6-3 Toni Alcinas
Ricky Evans 6-4 James Richardson
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Martin Schindler
Dawson Murschell 6-5 Mario Robbe
Steve West 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Tytus Kanik 6-2 Kyle Anderson
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Steve Beaton
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Terry Temple
James Wilson 6-2 Jason Cullen
Ian White 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Chris Quantock 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Jarred Cole 6-2 Robert Marijanovic
Danny Noppert 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Davy Van Baelen 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Corey Cadby 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Keegan Brown 6-5 Rob Cross
Robert Thornton 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Gary Anderson 6-2 Ross Smith
Darren Webster 6-3 Robbie Green
Last 32
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Ryan Searle
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Jan Dekker
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Richie Burnett 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Simon Stevenson 6-0Daryl Gurney
Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Mervyn King
Ricky Evans 6-4 Luke Humphries
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Steve West 6-3 Dawson Murschell
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Tytus Kanik
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 James Wilson
Ian White 6-3 Chris Quantock
Danny Noppert 6-4 Jarred Cole
Corey Cadby 6-3 Davy Van Baelen
Robert Thornton 6-0Keegan Brown
Gary Anderson 6-4 Darren Webster
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Richie Burnett
Simon Stevenson 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Ricky Evans
Steve West 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Ian White 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Corey Cadby 6-1 Danny Noppert
Gary Anderson 6-3 Robert Thornton
Last Eight
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Simon Stevenson 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Ian White 6-4 Steve West
Corey Cadby 6-4 Gary Anderson
Last Four
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Simon Stevenson
Corey Cadby 6-3 Ian White
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Corey Cadby