Michael van Gerwen comeback clinches Players Championship Ten title
Michael van Gerwen secured his second Players Championship title in the space of a week with a superb comeback to defeat Peter Wright 8-4 in the final of Event Ten in Barnsley.
Van Gerwen had triumphed in Niedernhausen last Sunday, and continued his resurgent run by claiming another £12,000 title at Players Championship Ten courtesy of some resilient displays.
The Dutchman reeled off four consecutive legs in the Semi-Finals against Jose de Sousa, and bettered that in a stunning comeback from 4-0 down against world number one Wright in the final.
He had also found himself 5-3 behind to Ryan Meikle in Round Two before hitting back to win in a decider after surviving two missed match darts, and also defeated Brett Clayton, Madars Razma, Brendan Dolan and Adrian Lewis on his way to Saturday’s title.
“It was a tough day, I had to work really hard but eventually it paid out and when I got going I think I played some good darts,” said Van Gerwen, who also won a European Tour event last month.
“I know Peter, and when he’s throwing relaxed he’s a phenomenal player and we all know that, but when you put him under pressure and you get your chances, you have to take them. That’s what I did. I think I can do more but this was enough.
“In the final and the semi-final I had to wake up a few times! You want to make it a little bit easier for yourself but to win is the most important thing.
“You have to survive game by game – there are so many good darts players here on the tour and you have to beat them all. It’s not easy, but I managed to do it today.
“This is a third title of this year – I’ve won more tournaments already than I did all last year altogether, so that’s a good thing.”
World Champion Wright opened the final with a superb four-leg burst, denying Van Gerwen a dart at a double with legs of 14, 11, 14 and 13 darts.
Van Gerwen took leg five to kick-start his challenge, and won the next four without Wright this time getting a dart at a double as the Dutchman moved into a 5-4 lead.
Wright’s missed bull for a 170 checkout in leg ten allowed Van Gerwen to complete a key 11-darter to deny his rival a chance to level.
He then finished 66 to move 7-4 up and punished Wright’s two missed doubles in the next to close out victory with a 64 checkout.
Wright was appearing in his second Players Championship final of the year and produced some exceptional darts throughout the day.
He averaged 111.5 in a Third Round defeat of Mervyn King – landing two ten-darters, an 11-darter and a pair of 12-dart finishes in the contest – before averaging above 108 as he reeled off six straight legs in a 7-3 Semi-Final win over Damon Heta.
Australia’s Heta was denied his second title of the year by Wright’s Semi-Final comeback, having averaged over 103 in four of his five wins on the day.
Jose de Sousa won five successive games in a deciding leg as he reached his first ProTour Semi-Final of 2022, only to be edged out in a decider by MVG.
Lewis joined Nathan Aspinall, Luke Humphries and Jeff Smith in the Quarter-Finals on the second day of the weekend’s triple-header in Barnsley.
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Players Championship Ten Results
Saturday April 2
First Round
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Tony Martinez
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Jules van Dongen
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Gary Anderson
John O’Shea 6-1 John Brown
Daryl Gurney 6-2 John Michael
Jeff Smith 6-3 Jose Justicia
Chris Dobey 6-4 Scott Mitchell
Kevin Doets 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Nathan Rafferty 6-1 John Henderson
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Jason Heaver
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Joe Murnan
Damon Heta 6-0 Jason Lowe
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Ted Evetts
Peter Wright 6-4 Ricky Evans
Geert Nentjes 6-0 Peter Hudson
Mervyn King 6-3 Krzysztof Kciuk
Jon Worsley 6-4 Jake Jones
Keane Barry 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Keegan Brown 6-3 Ross Montgomery
Devon Petersen 6-5 James Wade
Steve Lennon 6-4 Darren Webster
Rob Cross 6-3 Gordon Mathers
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Glen Durrant
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Connor Scutt
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Brian Raman
Michael Unterbuchner 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
George Killington 6-4 Adam Hunt
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Steve Beaton
Matt Campbell 6-2 Scott Waites
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Brett Claydon
Ryan Meikle 6-3 William O’Connor
Madars Razma 6-4 Florian Hempel
Nick Fullwell 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Vladimir Andersen
Kevin Burness 6-4 Steve Haggerty
Martin Schindler 6-5 Ian White
David Evans 6-1 Jim Moston
Niels Zonneveld 6-0 Michael Smith
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-2 Danny Baggish
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Lewy Williams 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Ryan Searle 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Shaun Wilkinson 6-3 Jack Main
Ross Smith 6-3 Alan Soutar
Richie Burnett 6-5 Danny Jansen
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Geert De Vos
Josh Rock 6-3 Max Hopp
Martijn Kleermaker 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Berry van Peer 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Damian Mol
Jim Williams 6-2 Eddie Lovely
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Steve West
Mike De Decker 6-3 William Borland
Joe Cullen 6-4 Graham Hall
Andy Boulton 6-3 Luc Peters
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Callan Rydz
Martin Lukeman 6-0 Darren Penhall
Luke Humphries 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Danny Noppert 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Second Round
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 John O’Shea
Jeff Smith 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Kevin Doets 6-1 Chris Dobey
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Luke Woodhouse 6 | 2 Kim Huybrechts
Damon Heta 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Peter Wright 6-4 Geert Nentjes
Mervyn King 6-5 Jon Worsley
Keegan Brown 6-4 Keane Barry
Steve Lennon 6-3 Devon Petersen
Rob Cross 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Cameron Menzies
George Killington 6-5 Michael Unterbuchner
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Matt Campbell
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Madars Razma 6-0 Nick Fullwell
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Kevin Burness
Martin Schindler 6-0 David Evans
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Lewy Williams
Ryan Searle 6-3 Shaun Wilkinson
Ross Smith 6-4 Richie Burnett
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Josh Rock
Berry van Peer 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Jim Williams
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Mike De Decker
Joe Cullen 6-5 Andy Boulton
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Humphries 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Danny Noppert
Losers: £750
Last 32
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Jeff Smith 6-4 Kevin Doets
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Damon Heta 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Peter Wright 6-3 Mervyn King
Keegan Brown 6-4 Steve Lennon
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 George Killington
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Madars Razma
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Martin Schindler
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Ross Smith 6-1 Ryan Searle
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Berry van Peer
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Joe Cullen 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Luke Humphries 6-1 Boris Krcmar
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Jeff Smith 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Damon Heta 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Peter Wright 6-4 Keegan Brown
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Ross Smith
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Luke Humphries 6-3 Joe Cullen
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Damon Heta 6-3 Jeff Smith
Peter Wright 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Luke Humphries
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Peter Wright 7-3 Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen 7-6 Jose de Sousa
Losers: £4,000
Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-4 Peter Wright
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
