Michael’s on top of the world
Ruthless Van Gerwen demolishes Scot Gary
WHEN a punter stormed the stage at the Alexandra Palace last night, interrupting the final of the PDC World Darts Championship, he held the Sid Waddell Trophy aloft before being tackled by a pack of security guards.
Michael van Gerwen, though, would soon have it in his hands instead.
The 27-year-old Dutchman was simply untouchable in 2016, with 25 trophies to his name, and started 2017 by defeating Scotland’s Gary Anderson to claim the world title for a second time.
The man known as Mighty Mike (pictured) won 7-3 and showed why he is seen by some as the heir to Phil Taylor’s throne, taking home the trophy and £350,000 winner’s cheque.
There were 42 maximums thrown in the match, beating the previous record of 34 from the final between Anderson and Adrian Lewis last year.
Not even the stage invader could put off Van Gerwen, who said: ‘That was a bit sad.
‘You always have people like that. He wanted to give me the trophy, but he will probably never see a darts game again.
‘I feel amazing, but I did not play my A-game.
‘Gary put me under pressure, but I am a happy man. It is the most important trophy of the year.
‘We all fight hard for this and I’m really glad I did the right thing at the right moments because Gary is a phenomenal player.’
His post-match press conference was interrupted by a phone call from Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte.
Make no mistake, Van Gerwen is an A-list celebrity in Holland.
Anderson was trying to join Taylor and Eric Bristow by claiming a third consecutive world title here. The hat-trick was never on the cards, though.
Anderson admitted he was beaten by the better player on the night.
‘This boy is quite good. I reckon, in a year or two, he will be top dog,’ smiled the 46-year-old Scot. ‘I have had a great three years. ‘At 2-2, I thought I was still going in this match, but Mike did it. I just started to drop and got punished.
‘It’s well deserved for Michael with the year he’s had.’
There are dream finals for darts fans and then there is Van Gerwen v Anderson.
This was a battle between the best two players on the planet in a race to be first to seven sets.
The Flying Scotsman put up a fight at first. It was fast and furious as they got to 1-1, both averaging 107, before moving to 2-2.
Yet, from then on, it was an onslaught from Van Gerwen. He ran away with it, winning 7-3, though the £160,000 cheque for coming second will help Anderson get over this. Van Gerwen was labelled the Lionel Messi of darts by this newspaper, and the Michael Jordan of his sport by The New York Times. Here, with each unerring dart, we found out precisely why.