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PDC Summer Series 2020 Day One Draw: First Round line-up for Players Championship Nine

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PDC Summer Series 2020 Day Two Draw: The First Round line-up for Players Championship Ten

Van Gerwen lays down a marker with successful opening salvo at the PDC Summer Series

Jamie Shaw in PDC Summer Series 08 Jul 2020
MVG gets off to a perfect start in Milton Keynes (Photo by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Michael van Gerwen returned to the winner’s circle at the first available opportunity by claiming the first PDC Summer Series title with a thrilling 8-7 victory over Peter Wright in the final.

The event marked the return of competitive PDC action and saw a familiar face come out on top as the world number one edged his colourful rival in a high quality final.

A field of 128 players assembled in a socially-distanced setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes and Van Gerwen quickly found his range to clinch the £10,000 title.

“I’m very happy,” said Van Gerwen. “It was a tough day and I had to perform really well but I worked hard and I did enough today.

“For the first tournament after this big gap, I think it wasn’t too bad. I’m really glad to be back. I played some good darts but you never know what can happen – there’s no easy games any more.

“It doesn’t matter who you draw now, you have to be sharp otherwise they will beat you. It’s been my biggest gap ever, four months is a long time to be away but I’m happy that I showed everyone today that I’m back.”

The Dutchman powered past Ireland’s Ciaran Teehan 6-1 in his opener but was not without a scare in the subsequent rounds, surviving a match dart from William Borland in a 6-5 success with a 105 average in Round Two.

He then averaged 106.2 in a 6-4 win over Callan Rydz before safely dispatching Jamie Hughes 6-1 with a 102 average.

Van Gerwen quickly followed up with a 6-0 whitewash of fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert, missing double 12 for a nine-darter in the process, before thrashing Gabriel Clemens 7-3 with a 106.8 average to seal his spot in the final.

First blood went to MVG in a match which signalled a re-run of January’s World Championship final against Wright, but the Scot got off the mark in style with a 110 checkout to level.

Wright then paid the price for twice missing darts to break throw as Van Gerwen edged into a 5-2 advantage with a break of his own, producing a 130 checkout in the process.

A 112 checkout kick-started the fightback for the World Champion, which he followed up immediately with a 116 finish to break throw.

Wright then capitalised on missed doubles from MVG in two of the next three legs as he moved 7-5 up and to the verge of victory.

Van Gerwen, though, saved his skin with a 72 finish, landed double two in leg 14 to force a decider and then defied a 180 from Wright – to leave 64 – by taking out 76 on tops for victory.

Wright, wearing glasses for the first time in PDC competition, was also forced to work hard in reaching the final, particularly in his early wins over Ron Meulenkamp, Derk Telnekes and James Wilson.

He also saw off Premier League rivals Rob Cross and Glen Durrant – the latter with a 108 average – and defeated Krzysztof Ratajski 7-2 in the semi-finals with another superb display.

Poland’s Ratajski had been bidding to win his second Players Championship title of 2020 as he reached a third semi-final of the year, while Clemens matched his best run of the year to take a further step towards qualification for the Betfred World Matchplay.

WATCH THE PDC SUMMER SERIES STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)

PDC Summer Series Event One Results

Wednesday July 8

First Round
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Martijn Kleermaker 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Steve West 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Peter Jacques
Danny Noppert 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Madars Razma 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Mike De Decker
Ross Smith 6-0 Cameron Menzies
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Ciaran Teehan
William Borland 6-1 Michael Barnard
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Keegan Brown
Callan Rydz 6-3 Ryan Joyce
James Wade 6-3 William O’Connor
Joe Murnan 6-2 Adam Hunt
Jamie Hughes 6-3 Martin Atkins
Jeff Smith 6-1 Jonathan Worsley
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Mark McGeeney
Chris Dobey 6-5 Luke Humphries
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Conan Whitehead
James Hubbard 6-2 Carl Wilkinson
Andy Boulton 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Steve Brown 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-5 Robert Thornton
Darren Webster 6-4 Ted Evetts
Ian White 6-2 Nathan Derry
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Jan Dekker
Steve Beaton 6-1 Kai Fan Leung
Arjan Konterman 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Adrian Gray
Robert Collins 6-3 Harald Leitinger
Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Nick Kenny
Vincent Van der Meer 6-3 Lisa Ashton
Peter Wright 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Derk Telnekes 6-4 Harry Ward
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal
James Wilson 6-5 Gary Blades
Rob Cross 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Max Hopp 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Josh Payne 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Christian Bunse
Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Joe Cullen
Jason Lowe 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Mike van Duivenbode
Glen Durrant 6-4 Steve Lennon
Alan Tabern 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Justin Pipe 6-5 Darren Penhall
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Scott Waites
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Simon Stevenson
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 John Henderson
Ryan Searle 6-3 Aaron Beeney
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Martin Schindler
Michael Smith 6-5 Ryan Murray
Mervyn King 6-0 Nathan Rafferty
Eddie Lovely 6-1 Adrian Lewis
Gavin Carlin 6-5 David Pallett
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Ricky Evans 6-5 Graham Usher
Matt Clark 6-2 Gary Anderson
Richard North 6-5 Scott Baker
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Jamie Lewis
Devon Petersen 6-1 Barrie Bates
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Wayne Jones 6-3 Reece Robinson

Second Round
Martijn Kleermaker 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Steve West
Danny Noppert 6-2 Madars Razma
Ross Smith 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 William Borland
Callan Rydz 6-5 Matthew Edgar
James Wade 6-1 Joe Murnan
Jamie Hughes 6-2 Jeff Smith
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Chris Dobey
Vincent van der Voort 6-1 James Hubbard
Steve Brown 6-4 Andy Boulton
Darren Webster 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Ian White
Steve Beaton 6-2 Arjan Konterman
Robert Collins 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Vincent Van der Meer
Peter Wright 6-4 Derk Telnekes
James Wilson 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Rob Cross 6-1 Max Hopp
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Josh Payne
Jason Lowe 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Glen Durrant 6-0 Alan Tabern
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Justin Pipe
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk
Ryan Searle 6-1 Matthew Dennant
Michael Smith 6-5 Mervyn King
Eddie Lovely 6-3 Gavin Carlin
Ricky Evans 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Richard North 6-4 Matt Clark
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Devon Petersen
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Wayne Jones
Losers: £500

Last 32
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker
Danny Noppert 6-5 Ross Smith
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Callan Rydz
Jamie Hughes 6-4 James Wade
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Darren Webster 6-4 Steve Brown
Steve Beaton 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Robert Collins
Peter Wright 6-3 James Wilson
Rob Cross 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Jason Lowe 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Glen Durrant 6-2 Benito van de Pas
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Ryan Searle
Eddie Lovely 6-4 Michael Smith
Ricky Evans 6-4 Richard North
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Losers: £1,000

Last 16
Danny Noppert 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Jamie Hughes
Mensur Suljovic v Darren Webster
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Steve Beaton
Peter Wright 6-2 Rob Cross
Glen Durrant 6-5 Jason Lowe
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Eddie Lovely
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ricky Evans
Losers: £1,500

Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Danny Noppert
Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright 6-3 Glen Durrant
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Losers: £2,250

Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 7-3 Gabriel Clemens
Peter Wright 7-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Losers: £3,000

Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-7 Peter Wright
Winner: £10,000
Runner-up: £6,000