Van Gerwen coasts to Players Championship Three triumph

Michael van Gerwen claimed his fourth PDC title of 2019 with victory at Players Championship Three in Wigan on Saturday, defeating Ian White 8-5 in the final.

Van Gerwen, the reigning World Champion and Masters king, followed up last Saturday’s success with further dominance at the Robin Park Sports Centre.

The world number one was below his best for much of the day, but did produce a flash of brilliance with a nine-dart finish in the Last 32 and was rarely troubled en route to collecting the £10,000 winner’s cheque.

“I didn’t really play well today so I was quite happy with my performance in the final,” said Van Gerwen.

“You always need to be a bit critical to yourself.

“I made a few mistakes here and there but I also had some phenomenally good finishing.

“I can be proud of myself even with the pressure on me and not playing my absolute best, I did it today.

“Ian had a tough run today and he had some good finishes as well so I had to play well and I’m glad I won.”

He began his run by defeating Ryan Searle 6-3 and overcoming Ross Smith 6-4, before landing his 18th career nine-darter to wrap up a 6-3 win over Jamie Hughes.

The unique perfect leg saw MVG register scores of 177 and 174 before landing a sensational 150 checkout to complete the feat.

He then denied World Youth Champion Dimitri van den Bergh 6-3 in a high quality contest which saw both players average 103, before ending the run of dangerous newcomer Gavin Carlin with a 6-3 triumph in the Quarter-Finals.

An average of just 91 proved sufficient for the Dutchman to see off Mervyn King 7-3 in a low-key Semi-Final.

Van Gerwen began the final with a 75 finish for first blood before following up a maximum with double 16 to double his lead.

White got off the mark in style with a 120 checkout and swiftly levelled up with a 60 finish, but Van Gerwen responded emphatically with a 160 checkout and a 13-darter to lead 4-2.

The duo traded the next two legs before MVG crashed in a magnificent 170 checkout and followed it up with a 160 outshot in the next leg to make it 7-3.

The clinical finishing continued as White hit back with checkouts of 127 and 105 to close the gap, but MVG duly completed the job in the following leg.

White, who topped the Players Championship Order of Merit in 2018, began his run with a 103 average in a 6-1 rout of Vincent Kamphuis before dispatching Mark Webster, Ryan Joyce and Darren Webster to reach the Last Eight.

There, he defeated Premier League ‘Contender’ John Henderson 6-4 before defying an average of 103 from Chris Dobey in the Semi-Finals with a ton average of his own in prevailing 7-5.

Ireland’s Carlin, a Tour Card winner at Qualifying School last month, enjoyed a superb run to his first ranking Quarter-Final, while Mervyn King notably averaged 110 in a 6-0 whitewash of Mickey Mansell en route to the Semi-Finals.

There was disappointment for three-time BDO World Champion Glen Durrant, who suffered a First Round exit at the hands of Luke Woodhouse, while the likes of James Wade, Simon Whitlock and Joe Cullen also crashed out at the first hurdle.

Saturday February 16

First Round

van Gerwen, Michael 6-3 Searle, Ryan

Smith, Ross 6-5 van Duivenbode, Mike

Hughes, Jamie 6-2 Clemens , Gabriel

Michael, John 6-3 Killington, George

Wattimena, Jermaine 6-1 Eastwood, Gary

Van den Bergh, Dimitri 6-2 Clark, Matt

Thornton, Robert 6-2 Bunting, Stephen

Schindler, Martin 6-5 Dekker, Jan

Smith, Michael 6-2 Hunt, Adam

Carlin, Gavin 6-4 Prins, Dave

De Zwaan, Jeffrey 6-4 Rodriguez, Rowby John

Tabern, Alan 6-5 Monk, Arron

Price, Gerwyn 6-2 Barnard, Michael

Bates, Barrie 6-2 Whitehead, Conan

Lennon, Steve 6-2 Nentjes, Geert

Huybrechts, Kim 6-3 Hudson, Peter

Suljovic, Mensur 6-0 Dootson, Eddie

Evetts, Ted 6-0 Kist, Christian

Meulenkamp, Ron 6-4 Payne, Josh

Huybrechts, Ronny 6-3 Klaasen, Jelle

Owen, Robert 6-5 Cullen, Joe

Koltsov, Boris 6-3 Burness, Kevin

West, Steve 6-4 Labanauskas, Darius

Stevenson, Simon 6-1 Murschell, Dawson

O’Connor, William 6-5 Wade, James

Dolan, Brendan 6-2 van Duijvenbode, Dirk

Ratajski, Krzysztof 6-2 Brown, Keegan

Boulton, Andy 6-4 Van Baelen, Davy

Chisnall, Dave 6-3 Baker, Scott

Kanik, Tytus 6-1 Carroll, Shaun

King, Mervyn 6-0 Mansell, Mickey

van der Voort, Vincent 6-0 Temple, Terry

White, Ian 6-1 Kamphuis, Vincent

Webster, Mark 6-1 Petersen, Devon

Joyce, Ryan 6-5 Robinson, Reece

Woodhouse, Luke 6-3 Durrant, Glen

Webster, Darren 6-4 Humphries, Luke

Aspinall, Nathan 6-4 Newell, Tony

Noppert, Danny 6-1 Murnan, Joe

Lewis, Jamie 6-4 van de Pas, Benito

Cross, Rob 6-5 Meeuwisse, Yordi

Harrington, Ryan 6-5 Reyes, Cristo

Henderson, John 6-3 Edgar, Matthew

Worsley, Jonathan 6-5 Kantele, Marko

Jones, Wayne 6-4 Clayton, Jonny

Wilkinson, Carl 6-3 Goldie, John

Pipe, Justin 6-3 Beaton, Steve

De Sousa, Jose 6-3 Pallett, David

Lewis, Adrian 6-2 Robbe, Mario

Burton, Stephen 6-5 Brooks, Bradley

Dobey, Chris 6-1 Wilson, Mark

Razma, Madars 6-3 Bunse, Christian

Gurney, Daryl 6-2 Kuivenhoven, Maik

Lerchbacher, Zoran 6-2 McGeeney, Mark

Evans, Ricky 6-2 Edhouse, Ritchie

Meikle, Ryan 6-4 Gray, Adrian

Wright, Peter 6-0 Bain, Jamie

Richardson, James 6-5 North, Richard

Anderson, Kyle 6-4 Shepherd, Kirk

Dudbridge, Mark 6-4 Marijanovic, Robert

Derry, Nathan 6-2 Whitlock, Simon

Alcinas, Toni 6-1 Zonneveld, Niels

Ward, Harry 6-3 Wilson, James

Van der Meer, Vincent 6-2 Norris, Alan

Second Round

van Gerwen, Michael 6-4 Smith, Ross

Hughes, Jamie 6-3 Michael, John

Van den Bergh, Dimitri 6-3 Wattimena, Jermaine

Schindler, Martin 6-5 Thornton, Robert

Carlin, Gavin 6-5 Smith, Michael

De Zwaan, Jeffrey 6-3 Tabern, Alan

Price, Gerwyn 6-0 Bates, Barrie

Huybrechts, Kim 6-1 Lennon, Steve

Suljovic, Mensur 6-1 Evetts, Ted

Meulenkamp, Ron 6-4 Huybrechts, Ronny

Owen, Robert 6-3 Koltsov, Boris

West, Steve 6-0 Stevenson, Simon

O’Connor, William 6-5 Dolan, Brendan

Boulton, Andy 6-5 Ratajski, Krzysztof

Kanik, Tytus 6-5 Chisnall, Dave

King, Mervyn 6-4 van der Voort, Vincent

White, Ian 6-3 Webster, Mark

Joyce, Ryan 6-2 Woodhouse, Luke

Webster, Darren 6-4 Aspinall, Nathan

Lewis, Jamie 6-4 Noppert, Danny

Cross, Rob 6-3 Harrington, Ryan

Henderson, John 6-3 Worsley, Jonathan

Jones, Wayne 6-3 Wilkinson, Carl

De Sousa, Jose 6-5 Pipe, Justin

Lewis, Adrian 6-2 Burton, Stephen

Dobey, Chris 6-5 Razma, Madars

Lerchbacher, Zoran 6-4 Gurney, Daryl

Evans, Ricky 6-5 Meikle, Ryan

Wright, Peter 6-2 Richardson, James

Dudbridge, Mark 6-5 Anderson, Kyle

Alcinas, Toni 6-2 Derry, Nathan

Ward, Harry 6-3 Van der Meer, Vincent

Losers: £500

Last 32

van Gerwen, Michael 6-3 Hughes, Jamie

Van den Bergh, Dimitri 6-4 Schindler, Martin

Carlin, Gavin 6-3 De Zwaan, Jeffrey

Huybrechts, Kim 6-5 Price, Gerwyn

Meulenkamp, Ron 6-4 Suljovic, Mensur

West, Steve 6-2 Owen, Robert

Boulton, Andy 6-5 O’Connor, William

King, Mervyn 6-5 Kanik, Tytus

White, Ian 6-4 Joyce, Ryan

Webster, Darren 6-4 Lewis, Jamie

Henderson, John 6-5 Cross, Rob

De Sousa, Jose 6-2 Jones, Wayne

Dobey, Chris 6-5 Lewis, Adrian

Lerchbacher, Zoran 6-3 Evans, Ricky

Wright, Peter 6-4 Dudbridge, Mark

Alcinas, Toni 6-4 Ward, Harry

Losers: £1,000

Last 16

Losers: £1,500

Quarter-Finals

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Gavin Carlin

Mervyn King 6-5 Steve West

Losers: £2,250

Semi-Finals

Losers: £3,000

Final

Michael van Gerwen 8-5 Ian White

Winner: £10,000

Runner-up: £6,000