Tag: van Gerwen
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 and Raymond van Barneveld sealed McCoy’s Premier League play-off places, leaving James Wade, Robert Thornton and Simon Whitlock to battle it out of the final top four spot after a dramatic night in Liverpool on Thursday.
van Gerwen’s victory over Andy Hamilton saw the 24-year-old reach the semi-finals on his debut season with one week of league action remaining.
And the Dutchman, who triumphed 7-4 against ‘The Hammer’, has set his sights on becoming the only player other than Phil Taylor, who has also qualified for the play-offs, to finish top of the table.
“I was always confident of making the top four but I am proud to have done it,” admitted van Gerwen, the world number two.
“Now I want to finish first. That would be a great achievement because only Phil has done it.
“It will be amazing to play in the Play-Offs at the O2 in London. I lost out in the youth final there last year so I really want to go and win the Premier League.”
van Barneveld can still catch his compatriot after enjoying a 7-4 success against Adrian Lewis in Merseyside to cement his place in the semi-finals.
Whitlock’s victory over Wade kept him in contention while Thornton can still make the top four despite losing out Taylor.
Wade, who also lost out to Hamilton, sits in the fourth and final play-off spot ahead of the last night of the league phase.
By Chris Murphy
Remaining Fixtures (Newcastle, May 9) Andy Hamilton v Adrian Lewis Robert Thornton v Raymond van Barneveld Adrian Lewis v Simon Whitlock Phil Taylor v James Wade Michael van Gerwen v Robert Thornton Simon Whitlock v Raymond van Barneveld
Latest League Table
| After Week 13 | P | W | D | L | +/- | LWAT | Pts |
| Michael van Gerwen (Q) | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | +28 | 36 | 22 |
| Phil Taylor (Q) | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | +22 | 39 | 19 |
| Raymond van Barneveld (Q) | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | +18 | 36 | 19 |
| James Wade | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | +6 | 30 | 16 |
| Robert Thornton | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | +2 | 30 | 15 |
| Simon Whitlock | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | -6 | 31 | 14 |
| Andy Hamilton | 15 | 6 | 0 | 9 | -9 | 29 | 12 |
| Adrian Lewis | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | -29 | 21 | 7 |
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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