Michael van Gerwen wins Players Championship Event Five title

The Dutchman, who has been in imperious form this year with six titles to his name, brushed aside youngster Chris Dobey 6-2 to clinch the £10,000 top prize.

Having been absent from the last two Players Championship events, the Dutchman now makes it 21 Players Championship games unbeaten and continues his 100 per cent record in these competitions. 

The scoreline doesn’t tell the story of the final however, with Dobey averaging a staggering 109.6 to Van Gerwen’s 99.6, but missing costly darts at the double.

It looked a foregone conclusion in then early stages as the World Number One raced into a 4-0 lead, firing a 12 darter and capitalising on six missed darts from Dobey to break twice.

A 10-dart leg, the best of the final, saw Dobey get his first leg on the board and gain a glimmer of hope.

He then broke throw to get a second on the board and trail by two.

But Van Gerwen produced a moment of brilliance in the seventh leg, landing a stunning 160 checkout with Dobey sitting on tops to move to within a leg of victory.

In the eighth and final leg, the Dutchman struck D8 to seal the victory and a third Players Championship title of the 2018.

Dropping just 18 legs all day, Van Gerwen was at his clinical best at Arena MK.

However, he survived a scare in the opening game of the day, squeezing past Ricky Evans in a last-leg decider.

He followed this with comfortable 6-3 wins over Jeffrey De Zwaan and Keegan Brown, before seeing off Jimmy Hendriks 6-2.

Despite facing a 108 average from Gary Anderson, he brought an end to the newly crowned UK Open Champion’s 27-game unbeaten streak with a 6-1 victory.

Finally, a 103.7 average saw him overcome James Wade 6-2 to reach the final.

Dobey, playing in his second career ProTour final, was impressive throughout the day before falling at the final hurdle.

He started the day with a 6-0 whitewash victory over youngster Bradley Brooks, and backed that up with victory over James Wilson 6-4.

His biggest scalp of the day arguably came in the Last 32 stage as he saw off Dave Chisnall 6-2.

Next came a 6-4 victory over Stephen Burton, before seeing off Gabriel Clemens 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.

There he faced Ryan Searle, where he recovered from 5-4 down to reach the final, sealing the win with a stunning 112 checkout to break throw.

It was a welcome return to form on the floor for semi-finalist Wade, having reached the final in the first event of the year before three early exits.

The 34-year-old beat Richie Edhouse, John Goldie, Simon Stevenson, Wayne Jones and Premier League star Mensur Suljovic on his way.

Searle enjoyed his best run of 2018 by beating Mervyn King, Mark Dudbridge, Ron Meulenkamp, Alan Tabern and William O’Connor on his way to the Semi-Finals.

Elsewhere, it was a disappointing day for Rob Cross as he crashed out at the first round for the first time this year, losing to Luke Woodhouse.

Gerwyn Price, who is still without a win in the Unibet Premier League, found further frustration on the floor as he crashed out in the first round to Micky Mansell.

Peter Wright, also struggling for form recently, was a second round casualty at the hands of Brendan Dolan.

The action continues in Milton Keynes on Sunday with Players Championship Six being played.

Players Championship Five Results

Last 128

Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Ricky Evans

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Adam Hunt

Keegan Brown 6-1 Eddie Dootson

Tytus Kanik 6-4 Tony Newell

Stephen Bunting 6-1 Gary Eastwood

Paul Nicholson 6-0 Kevin Burness

Kyle Anderson 6-3 Robert Owen

Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Maik Langendorf

Gary Anderson 6-1 Paul Rowley

Davy Van Baelen 6-4 Arron Monk

Michael Barnard 6-2 Richard North

Robert Marijanovic 6-2 Aden Kirk

Max Hopp 6-4 Kim Huybrechts

Jeffrey de Graaf 6-1 Jan Dekker

Cameron Menzies 6-2 Cristo Reyes

Peter Hudson 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Ross Twell

Mark Wilson 6-5 Kevin Painter

Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Robert Thornton

Christian Kist 6-3 Dawson Murschell

Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Joe Murnan

Kirk Shepherd 6-4 George Killington

Terry Jenkins 6-4 Benito van de Pas

John Part 6-3 Mick McGowan

Daryl Gurney 6-1 Jamie Caven

Simon Stevenson 6-1 Jamie Bain

James Wade 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse

John Goldie 6-1 James Richardson

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Madars Razma

Steve Lennon 6-1 Terry Temple

Steve Beaton 6-3 Mark Webster

Wayne Jones 6-5 Luke Humphries

Peter Wright 6-2 Josh Payne

Brendan Dolan 6-4 Ross Smith

Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Jason Cullen

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Martin Schindler

Darren Webster 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Ryan Joyce 6-2 Ben Burton

John Henderson 6-3 Scott Taylor

Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Chris Quantock

Dave Chisnall 6-1 Diogo Portela

Simon Preston 6-2 Jamie Lewis

James Wilson 6-2 Jose Justicia

Chris Dobey 6-0 Bradley Brooks

Ian White 6-5 Mario Robbe

Stephen Burton 6-0 Ryan Harrington

Steve West 6-2 Alan Norris

Jarred Cole 6-1 Sven Groen

Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Joe Cullen

Matthew Edgar 6-3 Prakash Jiwa

Peter Jacques 6-4 Vincent van der Voort

Richie Burnett 6-4 Danny Noppert

Mickey Mansell 6-3 Gerwyn Price

William O'Connor 6-3 Toni Alcinas

Adrian Lewis 6-3 Martin Atkins (Wigan)

Jim Brown 6-3 Martin Lukeman

Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Rob Cross

Alan Tabern 6-1 Robbie Green

Justin Pipe 6-3 Andrew Gilding

Vincent Kamphuis 6-3 Ryan Meikle

Ryan Searle 6-2 Mervyn King

Mark Dudbridge 6-5 Darren Johnson

Jonny Clayton 6-1 Steve Hine

Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher

Last 64

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan

Keegan Brown 6-5 Tytus Kanik

Paul Nicholson 6-1 Stephen Bunting

Jimmy Hendriks 6-3 Kyle Anderson

Gary Anderson 6-0 Davy Van Baelen

Robert Marijanovic 6-3 Michael Barnard

Jeffrey de Graaf 6-1 Max Hopp

Cameron Menzies 6-1 Peter Hudson

Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Mark Wilson

Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Christian Kist

Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Kirk Shepherd

Terry Jenkins 6-4 John Part

Simon Stevenson 6-3 Daryl Gurney

James Wade 6-2 John Goldie

Steve Lennon 6-4 Simon Whitlock

Wayne Jones 6-5 Steve Beaton

Brendan Dolan 6-1 Peter Wright

Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Ryan Joyce 6-4 Darren Webster

Gabriel Clemens 6-5 John Henderson

Dave Chisnall 6-3 Simon Preston

Chris Dobey 6-4 James Wilson

Stephen Burton 6-3 Ian White

Steve West 6-4 Jarred Cole

Matthew Edgar 6-3 Nathan Aspinall

Richie Burnett 6-5 Peter Jacques

William O'Connor 6-3 Mickey Mansell

Adrian Lewis 6-2 Jim Brown

Alan Tabern 6-4 Luke Woodhouse

Vincent Kamphuis 6-4 Justin Pipe

Ryan Searle 6-5 Mark Dudbridge

Ron Meulenkamp 6-3 Jonny Clayton

Last 32

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Keegan Brown

Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Paul Nicholson

Gary Anderson 6-3 Robert Marijanovic

Cameron Menzies 6-4 Jeffrey de Graaf

Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts

Terry Jenkins 6-1 Jelle Klaasen

James Wade 6-5 Simon Stevenson

Wayne Jones 6-3 Steve Lennon

Brendan Dolan 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena

Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Ryan Joyce

Chris Dobey 6-2 Dave Chisnall

Stephen Burton 6-5 Steve West

Matthew Edgar 6-4 Richie Burnett

William O'Connor 6-3 Adrian Lewis

Alan Tabern 6-2 Vincent Kamphuis

Ryan Searle 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp

Last 1 6

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks

Gary Anderson 6-2 Cameron Menzies

Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Terry Jenkins

James Wade 6-4 Wayne Jones

Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Brendan Dolan

Chris Dobey 6-4 Stephen Burton

William O'Connor 6-4 Matthew Edgar

Ryan Searle 6-1 Alan Tabern

Last Eight

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Gary Anderson

James Wade 6-3 Mensur Suljovic

Chris Dobey 6-2 Gabriel Clemens

Ryan Searle 6-3 William O'Connor

Last Four

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 James Wade

Chris Dobey 6-5 Ryan Searle

Final

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Chris Dobey

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