Michael van Gerwen claims first ranking title of the season at Players Championship Seven
Michael van Gerwen claimed his first ranking title of 2023 at Players Championship Seven courtesy of an 8-4 victory over Josh Rock in the final in Hildesheim.
World number three Van Gerwen began the ProTour double-header in Germany by scooping the £12,000 top prize for a first Players Championship title since April 2022.
The success saw Van Gerwen, the winner of three Premier League nights so far in 2023, claim his first ranking triumph of the year in style.
UK Open runner-up a fortnight ago, Van Gerwen’s display at Halle 39 was his best away from the TV cameras as he swept through the field before seeing off World Youth Champion Rock in the final.
“I had to work very hard,” admitted Van Gerwen. “I have six gears but I won it in fourth gear today.
“I wasn’t playing well most of the day, but the games where I had to play well – to beat Dirk in the quarter-finals I played really well there, and against Josh in the final – I did it.
“That gives you confidence and gives you pleasure but I wasn’t great today. Of course I want to play better but I did it whenever I had to do, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
“They’re long days, very long days,” added the 33-year-old. “At this stage in my life, every tournament I compete in I want to win and it gets harder.
“If you look at the floor tournaments nowadays there’s no easy games any more so I have to battle for every game, but overall I’m pleased with my win and that’s really important.
“A lot has changed – everyone can play a 100+ average and that’s how good the tour is at the moment so that’s why you need to get focused.”
Van Gerwen breezed past Jacques Labre, Keegan Brown, Martin Lukeman and Boris Krcmar for the loss of just seven legs to book his spot in the Quarter-Finals.
There, he produced his highest average of the day (105) in a 6-4 win over Dutch rival Dirk van Duijvenbode, before battling past former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks 7-5 in the Semi-Finals.
The final saw Van Gerwen meet reigning World Youth Champion in Rock – who took the opening leg before seeing the Premier League leader win five of the next six to move 5-2 up.
Rock cut the gap to 5-4, but legs of 11 and 12 darts for Van Gerwen pushed him clear at 7-4 before he closed out victory in the following leg.
Northern Ireland’s Rock also enjoyed his best run in a ranking event this year by reaching the final, as he sought to emulate his Players Championship 28 win last season.
The youngster produced three ton-plus averages on the day – against Luke Woodhouse, Brendan Dolan and Mario Vandenbogaerde – and saw off Premier League star Dimitri Van den Bergh and Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski in the latter stages.
Ratajski won through to a Semi-Final for the first time since last August, registering a trio of ton-plus averages in his five wins on the day.
Brooks reached his first ProTour Semi-Final in an impressive run which saw him overcome Devon Petersen, Chris Dobey, Gary Anderson, Callan Rydz and Dave Chisnall.
Sunday’s action also featured the season’s first Players Championship nine-darter from Dolan in his Second Round win over Richard Veenstra.
Other notable displays included a 113 average from Dave Chisnall in his Third Round win over Daryl Gurney, which bettered the mean score of Stephen Bunting (111.3) and Luke Humphries (110.3) in their Second Round victories.
Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld were among the notable First Round casualties.
Players Championship Seven Results
Sunday March 19
First Round
Luke Humphries 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Ian White 6-2 Scott Waites
William O’Connor 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-2 Martijn Kleermaker
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Daniel Klose
Jurjen van der Velde 6-3 Mervyn King
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Mike De Decker 6-3 Scott Williams
Martin Schindler 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Danny van Trijp
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Arron Monk
Josh Rock 6-4 Steve Lennon
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Brian Raman
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Robbie Knops
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Josh Payne
Damon Heta 6-2 Alex Spellman
Andy Boulton 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Lukas Wenig 6-1 Simon Whitlock
Cam Crabtree 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Kevin Doets 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-4 Lee Evans
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Pascal Rupprecht
Stephen Burton 6-4 Lewis Williams
Ross Montgomery 6-5 Rob Cross
James Hurrell 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Jim Williams 6-3 Shaun Wilkinson
Damian Mol 6-2 Vladimir Andersen
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Christian Kist
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Chris Landman
Danny Jansen 6-3 James Wade
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Owen Roelofs
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Callum Goffin
Tony Martinez 6-4 George Killington
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Adam Warner
Graham Usher 6-1 Gian van Veen
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Owen Bates
Richie Burnett 6-5 Keane Barry
Ross Smith 6-4 Graham Hall
Stefan Bellmont 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Danny Noppert 6-5 Kevin Burness
Gary Anderson 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk
Chris Dobey 6-3 Luc Peters
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Devon Petersen
Joe Cullen 6-5 Ricky Evans
Dylan Slevin 6-4 Jamie Clark
Callan Rydz 6-0 Jimmy Hendriks
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Jeff Smith
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Florian Hempel 6-5 Jules van Dongen
Steve Beaton 6-2 Berry van Peer
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Ted Evetts
Connor Scutt 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Madars Razma
Jose Justicia 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Jacques Labre
Keegan Brown 6-2 John O’Shea
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Geert Nentjes
Thibault Tricole 6-3 Darren Webster
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Nick Kenny
Robert Owen 6-2 Alan Soutar
Kim Huybrechts 6-0 Matt Campbell
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Second Round
Luke Humphries 6-2 Ian White
William O’Connor 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Mike De Decker
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Martin Schindler
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-0 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Josh Rock 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Richard Veenstra – *Dolan hits a nine-darter*
Damon Heta 6-5 Andy Boulton
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-4 Kevin Doets
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Stephen Burton
Ross Montgomery 6-3 James Hurrell
Jim Williams 6-4 Damian Mol
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Danny Jansen
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Tony Martinez
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Graham Usher
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Richie Burnett
Stefan Bellmont 6-3 Ross Smith
Gary Anderson 6-3 Danny Noppert
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Chris Dobey
Joe Cullen 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Callan Rydz 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Florian Hempel
Steve Beaton 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-1 Connor Scutt
Jose Justicia 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Keegan Brown
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Thibault Tricole
Robert Owen 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Losers: £750
Last 32
Luke Humphries 6-5 William O’Connor
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-0 Jermaine Wattimena
Josh Rock 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Damon Heta
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ross Montgomery 6-5 Jim Williams
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Adam Gawlas
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Bradley Brooks 6-1 Gary Anderson
Callan Rydz 6-5 Joe Cullen
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Steve Beaton
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-4 Jose Justicia
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Robert Owen
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Luke Humphries
Josh Rock 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Cam Crabtree
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Ross Montgomery
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Callan Rydz
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Boris Krcmar
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Josh Rock 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Josh Rock 7-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael van Gerwen 7-5 Bradley Brooks
Losers: £4,000
Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-4 Josh Rock
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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