Tag: Darts
Michael van Gerwen defeated Phil Taylor to win the McCoy’s Premier League at London’s O2 Arena on Thursday, while James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld bowed out at the semi-final stage.
Dutch ace van Gerwen avenged January’s World Championship final defeat to ‘The Power’ with a thrilling victory over the world number one.
The 24-year-old prevailed by ten legs to eight and sealed the biggest win of his career with a spectacular 132 finish, completing the three-dart combination on the bull.
“I’m so happy to win this Premier League and it is a dream come true,” said ‘Mighty Mike’, who clinched his second PDC major title after winning October’s World Grand Prix.
“It was important for me to get this win after losing to Phil at the World Championships. I was a bit sick about that but this was my night, my tournament.
“I think I deserved to win it and Phil played really well so I had to show my class. It is my best moment and I hope there will be many more like this.”
van Gerwen trailed six-time and defending champion Taylor 5-2 before putting together a brilliant run of five consecutive legs to take charge of the final.
The 16-time World Champion hit back though as he broke van Gerwen’s throw before the youngster declined a shot at the bull, only for Taylor to produce a stunning 160 checkout.
With parity restored at seven legs apiece, world number two van Gerwen responded with one of his nine 180s before pegging double top to edge back ahead.
He then broke Taylor’s throw to close in on victory but missed two match darts at double eight in the following leg, allowing his opponent to keep the match alive.
But van Gerwen ensured victory before the prospect of a deciding leg when he produced a sensational 132 finish to clinch the £150,00 first prize and title of 2013 Premier League Champion.
He added: “Phil started off really well but being 5-2 down probably took a little bit of pressure off me and I settled down after the break.
“I was gutted when I missed the two darts at double eight but that didn’t matter when I hit that bull to win.
“I’m so proud. I have loved every minute of this Premier League and to win it like that, by beating the greatest player ever in the final, is very special.”
It was the first time that Taylor had lost in the final of the £520,000 tournament and he was chasing his seventh victory when he saw off van Barneveld in the last four.
van Gerwen had ended 2009 champion Wade’s chances of winning his eighth major title with an 8-4 semi-final success over ‘The Machine’.
Wade said after the defeat: “I wasn’t good enough and Michael was. That’s the story of it.
“I missed too many doubles and he punished me for being messy.”
By Chris Murphy
Images courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC
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James Wade and Michael van Gerwen will go head to head in the semi-finals of the McCoy’s Premier League on Thursday, when the final four will compete for the prestigious title.
Wade, a former winner of the £520,000 tournament, meets ‘Mighty Mike’ who topped the table in his debut season, as the 14 week elite darts showcase reaches its climax at London’s O2 Arena.
Raymond van Barneveld takes on defending champion Phil Taylor in the other clash of a semi-final line-up that is identical to the last four stage of January’s World Championship.
Seven-time PDC major title winner Wade believes that the tournament, which he won in 2009, is there for the taking.
“I really don’t think anyone can confidently pick a winner this year,” said ‘The Machine’.
“You’ve got four quality players, who are all capable of fantastic things so it’s all on the night.
“Michael van Gerwen is playing brilliant but we’ve had some close games recently. I’ll just concentrate on my own game and I know I what I can do.
“His strength his scoring and mine is finishing so I hope we both go up and play our best games because it could be something really great.
“I want to win a couple of majors this year and I’m hoping the first one comes my way on Thursday.”
World number two van Gerwen is chasing his second televised success in the PDC after losing two major finals since winning the World Grand Prix in October.
He said: “I want to win this Premier League. Finishing first in the table was a nice thing for me but now I have to follow it up.
“I have two more matches hopefully and I need to win them both.
“Everybody keeps saying I will win a lot in the future but you never know how your form might change.
“I’m playing well now and I want to make it count now.”
van Barneveld has set his sights on reaching a first Premier League final after five unsuccessful attempts.
But the Dutchman knows he has his work cut out against a player he is yet to beat in the competition.
“I had a good chance to beat Phil Taylor in the league this year,” said ‘Barney’, the five-time World Champion.
“But maybe that wasn’t my time. I hope Thursday night is. If I play like I can then I can do it.
“Five times I have lost in the semis so to make the final, just once, would be great for me and to win the whole tournament would be a dream come true.”
Whoever does take glory on Thursday will scoop a £150,000 first prize – the second largest winners cheque on the PDC tour.
By Chris Murphy
Individual previews can be viewed at the players’ official websites: James Wade – www.jameswade.co.uk / Michael van Gerwen – www.michaelvangerwen.tv / Raymond van Barneveld – www.barneyuk.tv
Four of the biggest names in professional darts will be on show at the Benfield Nissan Darts Masters in Sunderland next month.
The stars, including five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, will compete at the Nissan Sports and Leisure complex on 15 June.
Dutch legend ‘Barney’ will be joined by Australian ace and European Champion Simon Whitlock, double World Champion Ted Hankey and James Wade, winner of seven major titles.
They will battle it out, alongside local qualifiers, in the type of thrilling tournament as seen on TV as high quality darts heads to Sunderland.
“This should be a great night,” said van Barneveld, who starred in the Premier League in Newcastle last week.
“I know that fans up there are very passionate about their darts. They were amazing on Thursday and I’m looking forward to meeting the guys in Sunderland.
“I’m sure there will be some good players from the local area, who will give us a run for our money.
“It is a brilliant line up and we will all be aiming to put on a show and, most importantly, win!”
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Robert Thornton and Michael van Gerwen claimed triumphs in the first two Players Championships of 2013 in Wigan at the weekend.
The pair warmed up for the final night of McCoy’s Premier League action on Thursday by each collecting the recently increased first prizes of £10,000.
Thornton, who is chasing a Premier League play-off place when he meets van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld in Newcastle, took Saturday’s title with brilliant run at Robin Park.
The Scottish ace stormed to a 6-0 final success over Ronnie Huybrechts, averaging over 111 to seal his second Pro Tour victory of the year.
van Gerwen claimed his sixth floor tournament success on Sunday when he saw off Stuart Kellet 6-1 in the final.
‘Mighty Mike’ needs a point from his match with ‘The Thorn’ to finish top of the Premier League table in his debut season.
Further reports are available at the players’ official websites: www.robertthornton.co.uk / www.michaelvangerwen.tv
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Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld could secure their places in the McCoy’s Premier League play-offs when the tournament visits Liverpool on Thursday.
But Simon Whitlock and Robert Thornton can keep their bids to reach the top four alive with victories on the penultimate night of the league stage.
Table-topping van Gerwen needs just a point from his match against Andy Hamilton after missing the chance to cement his place in the finals, which take place at London’s O2 in a fortnight, with defeat to Whitlock last week.
The 24-year-old Dutch ace bounced back to win his fifth UK Open qualifier from the series of eight events on Sunday, however, and is determined to take that form to Merseyside.
He told the PDC’s official website: “Winning on Sunday was good preparation for me because I’ve got a couple of tough weeks ahead in the Premier League.
“Last week was disappointing for me and I don’t like losing, but it’s part of the game and you can’t win for 14 weeks in a row. I missed too many doubles but it’s a new game this week and I’ve got to make sure I win against Andy.”
Thornton will need to complete a historic double over reigning champion Phil Taylor in order to stay in contention for a play-off spot.
‘The Scotsman’, whose victory over ‘The Power’ in Brighton was his third in their last four televised meetings, would be the first player in the Premier Leagues eight year history to defeat the 16-time World Champion twice in one season should he repeat the feat in Liverpool.
‘The Thorn’ conceded that Taylor, who is looking to cement his top four position, will be out for revenge.
He’ll be out for my blood!” said Thornton.
“I’m just going to go up on stage and do my best and enjoy myself, and whatever happens will happen.
“You’ve got to thrive playing against the best players and I’ve done that for most of this season. If you don’t play at your best then they’ll run riot against you.”
Wade will qualify for the play-offs if he wins both of his matches on Thursday, as he takes on Whitlock and Hamilton, who both need wins and other results to go their way to stay in with a chance of a place in the finals.
van Barneveld faces Adrian Lewis, the only player that is mathematically out of the running for a top four finish, with the Dutchman hoping to seal his play-off place after missing out last year.
By Chris Murphy
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Michael van Gerwen topped the Order of Merit after winning five of the eight ranked Speedy Services UK Open qualifiers, as fellow Premier League stars James Wade, Robert Thornton, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld all booked their places at the Bolton tournament.
van Gerwen won the final event of the 2013 series on Sunday, when the field of qualifiers for June’s finals were confirmed.
As one of the top 32 in the final Order of Merit, ‘Mighty Mike’ gains automatic entry to the third round on Friday June 7 along with reigning champion Thornton, Whitlock, van Barneveld, Paul Nicholson and Mark Webster.
Andy Jenkins qualified for the second round on Thursday June 6 as he collected £1,800 in prize money and returned to the top 64 in the world rankings.
Joining ‘Rocky’ in round two are Co Stompe, John Henderson and Arron Monk, while Wade, Chris Aubrey, Vincent van der Voort and James Hubbard all also qualified for the tournament and will compete in the first round on the Thursday.
Michael van Gerwen and Robert Thornton both won UK Open qualifiers on a wonderful weekend for the Premier League pair in Wigan.
van Gerwen added Saturday’s title to the two he had previously won last month, before Thornton stopped his rampant run on Sunday and took the honours himself.
‘Mighty Mike’ saw off Michael Smith in Saturday’s final to clinch the £6,000 first prize after he had narrowly missed double twelve to nail a nine-dart-finish in an earlier round.
“It’s always nice to win a tournament like this and I’m delighted,” van Gerwen told PDC.tv
“I know I’m playing well and I’ve shown everyone again today.
“I was strong from the beginning but I played a lot of good players, like Simon Whitlock, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright. I’m full of confidence and I’m taking that into my games at the moment.”
The Dutch sensation looked set to continue is incredible run of success on the Pro Tour, having won UK Open qualifiers 1, 2 & 3 in addition to the final Players Championship event in 2012, before he ran into the brilliant Thornton in Sunday’s semi-finals.
Thornton, the reigning Speedy Services UK Open champion, claimed a 6-3 victory, before triumphing 6-4 against Jamie Caven in the final.
“I’m chuffed to bits to get the win,” said Thornton, who will be appearing alongside van Gerwen in the Portsmouth International Masters in June.
“It’s about time Michael let somebody else win!
“In all seriousness though it’s so tough now.
“The standard is incredible and it’s a proud day when you win one of these.
“It’s harder than winning your Premier League match on a Thursday night and in an odd way, playing in that tournament has prepared me for this!”
Both players will turn their attentions to night seven of the McCoy’s Premier League in Cardiff, where they are in action on Thursday.
There was also a strong showing from Paul Nicholson in both of the weekend’s events, with ‘The Asset’ reaching the quarter-finals on both days.
By Chris Murphy
Image courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC
Simon Whitlock took victory in Sunday’s Players Championship 12 at Barnsley Metrodome, defeating Andy Hamilton 6-4 in the final.
‘The Wizard’ finally got rewarded for his solid form this year, as he claimed his first ranking title since 2010.
“I’m delighted to get the win,” said Whitlock, who will now turn his attention to the televised European Championships next week.
“It has been a while but I’ve been playing well. My form has been good so I always felt I would win one soon. 
“I’ve been putting the practise in and I’m looking forward to going to Germany now, with this win under my belt.”
The Australian star, who had reached the quarter-finals in Saturday’s event, began Sunday’s tournament with a 6-2 defeat of Tony Littleton.
He followed that up with wins over Scott Rand and Kim Huybrechts, before seeing off the challenge of Steve Maish in the quarter-finals.
‘The Wizard’ halted the charge of former World Champion Dennis Priestley in the last four, triumphing 6-2 over the Yorkshire-man before beating Hamilton to clinch the £6,000 title.
Whitlock trailed ‘The Hammer’ by two legs in the final but hit back to tie the match at 2-2.
The next four legs all went with the throw before Whitlock grabbed a crucial break, hitting double eight to take the lead before posting double 16 to triumph.
Michael van Gerwen, who won Saturday’s event, was denied the chance to make it a double success.
The Dutchman was defeated by Hamilton in the semi-finals, with ‘Mighty Mike’ missing double twelve for a nine-darter.
van Gerwen defeated Kevin McDine, Jamie Caven, Terry Jenkins and Prakash Jiwa en route to the last four.
By Chris Murphy
Images courtesy of Lawrenc Lustig/PDC
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