Jaco van Bodegom, the manager of Raymond van Barneveld, reported on Twitter that Van Gerwen hit a nine-dart in the practice room, with a completely new set of darts.
The 29-year-old Dutchman was practicing with Peter Wright prior to their semi-final match in Auckland. The world number one showed his new darts, which were still in his dartscase, to Wright.
'Snakebite' asked 'Mighty Mike' if he liked the new darts. Van Gerwen took the arrows out of his dartscase, walked to the oche and hit maximum scores, followed by a 141 finish.
Van Gerwen put his darts back in his dartscase and told Wright that he 'liked' them. According to Van Bodegom, nobody believed what they just had seen.
The Dutchman would eventually
claim the title at the Auckland Darts Masters after defeating Wright and Van Barneveld on the final day.
https://twitter.com/TiltMonkey/status/1025986510514876416