Michael van Gerwen (Picture: Lawrence Lustig)
Michael van Gerwen (Picture: Lawrence Lustig)

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

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