Last week Michael van Gerwen limped out of the World Grand Prix battered by Daryl Gurney without winning a leg. Albeit battling illness, he normally comes back with a vengeance and has done winning Players Championship 27.
All day, Van Gerwen has taken his chances when others missed and this was the case again as he defeated Gerwyn Price 8-4 in Wigan to win his second ProTour title of the season. He won one last month and his finishing was utterly delightful against Price as he stopped the Welshman winning a first ranking title of the season.
A pivotal one at that as Price could've qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts in the process which he would've gone towards had he won the title today. But Van Gerwen taught a lesson of you miss, I hit to seal the deal.
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Price missed 147 for an opening hold but returned with Van Gerwen unable to put a dent in 138 and pinned double four clinically for 1-0.
With MVG slipping up mid leg, Price sensed an opportunity and hit 180-140 leave 78 and he pinned it with MVG sat on 95 to hold and he was throwing for a 3-0 lead. But MVG got on the board with a superb retort to make it 2-1. Van Gerwen missed 110 for 2-2 but came back to level up.
But Price after a poor period came back on double 18 to go 3-2 up. He missed two darts at 81 for 4-3 and Van Gerwen had a chance at 72 that he took on double 12 to break and head towards a 5-3 lead which he took with a 142.
He hit 112 to make it 6-3 in devastating fashion and broke again. Price missed 104 and was taken to school again as Van Gerwen hit double 16 for a 44 checkout to go one away. Price hit a 126 to stop the rot but Van Gerwen knew his hopes rested on the next leg. A 137 and double 20 was left after 12 darts and Van Gerwen took it for the win.
Final
Michael van Gerwen (95.52) 8 | 4 (93.47) Gerwyn Price
Semi-Finals
Gerwyn Price (97.90) 7 | 4 (99.56) Ryan Searle
Michael van Gerwen (95.89) 7 | 2 (96.45) Wessel Nijman
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price (101.36) 6 | 1 (104.05) Damon Heta
Ryan Searle (106.10) 6 | 1 (90.39) Keane Barry
Michael van Gerwen (98.82) 6 | 5 (98.90) Jonny Clayton
Wessel Nijman (95.35) 6 | 5 (91.98) Stephen Bunting
Last 16
Gerwyn Price (102.53) 6 | 4 (88.25) Madars Razma
Damon Heta (100.91) 6 | 2 (92.97) Luke Humphries
Ryan Searle (91.94) 6 | 4 (94.55) Rob Cross
Keane Barry (99.92) 6 | 5 (103.73) Chris Dobey
Jonny Clayton (89.29) 6 | 0 (80.59) Lee Cocks
Michael van Gerwen (96.78) 6 | 5 (94.60) Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Bunting (104.69) 6 | 2 (107.48) Daryl Gurney
Wessel Nijman (103.65) 6 | 1 (90.96) Martin Schindler
Last 32
Madars Razma (88.99) 6 | 5 (87.45) Callan Rydz
Gerwyn Price (100.25) 6 | 3 (98.80) James Hurrell
Damon Heta (97.20) 6 | 5 (96.32) Andrew Gilding
Luke Humphries (90.50) 6 | 2 (89.78) Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Searle (104.76) 6 | 5 (101.85) Jermaine Wattimena
Rob Cross (90.70) 6 | 4 (84.51) Michael Smith
Chris Dobey (95.85) 6 | 2 (89.98) Callum Goffin
Keane Barry (94.88) 6 | 4 (82.55) Jitse Van der Wal
Lee Cocks (95.48) 6 | 2 (91.49) Mensur Suljovic
Jonny Clayton (95.43) 6 | 1 (93.99) Darryl Pilgrim
Michael van Gerwen (95.02) 6 | 2 (94.48) James Wade
Stephen Bunting (96.73) 6 | 5 (103.47) Ian White
Daryl Gurney (94.60) 6 | 3 (97.17) Mike De Decker
Martin Schindler (86.08) 6 | 2 (86.31) Adam Hunt
Wessel Nijman (96.61) 6 | 3 (92.63) Danny Noppert
Last 64
Madars Razma (92.14) 6 | 4 (92.49) Nathan Aspinall
Callan Rydz (88.61) 6 | 5 (82.58) Tim Wolters
Gerwyn Price (95.05) 6 | 1 (86.29) Thibault Tricole
James Hurrell (105.60) 6 | 4 (95.23) Raymond van Barneveld
Damon Heta (103.57) 6 | 2 (92.00) Nathan Rafferty
Andrew Gilding (87.72) 6 | 3 (86.24) Alan Soutar
Luke Humphries (95.64) 6 | 1 (92.24) Richie Burnett
Kim Huybrechts (91.09) 6 | 0 (81.13) Justin Hood
Ryan Searle (98.61) 6 | 4 (96.16) Jeffrey De Graaf
Jermaine Wattimena (92.02) 6 | 0 (78.68) Jurjen van der Velde
Rob Cross (98.34) 6 | 5 (92.24) Nick Kenny
Michael Smith (91.47) 6 | 4 (93.60) Richard Veenstra
Chris Dobey (92.58) 6 | 1 (83.05) Owen Bates
Callum Goffin (92.56) 6 | 5 (87.51) George Killington
Keane Barry (95.23) 6 | 5 (94.78) William O'Connor
Jitse Van der Wal (93.39) 6 | 2 (101.02) Ryan Joyce
Lee Cocks (92.24) 6 | 2 (92.31) Luke Littler
Mensur Suljovic (97.35) 6 | 5 (92.44) Mickey Mansell
Jonny Clayton (93.80) 6 | 3 (100.11) Christian Kist
Darryl Pilgrim (89.29) 6 | 0 (80.18) Chris Landman
Josh Rock (102.48) 6 | 1 (96.12) Simon Whitlock
Luke Woodhouse (100.91) 6 | 2 (90.66) Patrick Geeraets
Michael van Gerwen (92.45) 6 | 5 (87.00) Scott Williams
James Wade (99.80) 6 | 5 (99.72) Adam Gawlas
Stephen Bunting (98.58) 6 | 1 (91.34) Dom Taylor
Ian White (103.52) 6 | 4 (100.16) Jim Williams
Daryl Gurney (93.21) 6 | 2 (83.81) Steve Beaton
Mike De Decker (89.38) 6 | 5 (93.52) Martin Lukeman
Martin Schindler (94.26) 6 | 2 (89.55) Danny Lauby
Adam Hunt (91.66) 6 | 3 (86.80) Brendan Dolan
Danny Noppert (97.40) 6 | 5 (93.02) Brett Claydon
Wessel Nijman (95.49) 6 | 4 (90.35) Mario Vandenbogaerde
Last 128
Madars Razma (104.82) 6 | 5 (93.58) Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall (107.23) 6 | 1 (90.15) Niels Zonneveld
Callan Rydz (90.28) 6 | 1 (72.32) Robbie Knops
Tim Wolters (87.41) 6 | 5 (89.02) Michele Turetta
Gerwyn Price (99.93) 6 | 1 (84.09) Robert Owen
Thibault Tricole (86.85) 6 | 5 (88.97) Jose De Sousa
Raymond van Barneveld (93.97) 6 | 3 (90.70) Matthew Dennant
James Hurrell (97.40) 6 | 1 (96.64) Andy Boulton
Damon Heta (103.41) 6 | 1 (83.46) Boris Krcmar
Nathan Rafferty (91.49) 6 | 2 (84.90) Josh Payne
Andrew Gilding (104.54) 6 | 5 (99.40) Jeffrey Sparidaans
Alan Soutar () W | F () Vincent van der Voort
Luke Humphries (93.94) 6 | 4 (94.84) Danny Jansen
Richie Burnett (89.97) 6 | 1 (84.41) Jacques Labre
Justin Hood (97.76) 6 | 4 (95.01) Ricardo Pietreczko
Kim Huybrechts (95.90) 6 | 4 (92.30) Maik Kuivenhoven
Ryan Searle (92.43) 6 | 5 (91.98) Martijn Dragt
Jeffrey De Graaf (84.63) 6 | 4 (88.16) Florian Hempel
Jermaine Wattimena (97.14) 6 | 1 (77.80) Joshua Richardson
Jurjen van der Velde (90.91) 6 | 3 (86.92) Kevin Doets
Rob Cross (96.84) 6 | 2 (88.26) Krzysztof Ratajski
Nick Kenny (92.63) 6 | 2 (87.70) Cam Crabtree
Michael Smith (102.48) 6 | 0 (99.19) Karel Sedlacek
Richard Veenstra (94.93) 6 | 0 (83.42) Andy Baetens
Chris Dobey (97.70) 6 | 5 (86.22) Rhys Griffin
Owen Bates (88.51) 6 | 5 (87.21) Jeffrey De Zwaan
Callum Goffin (89.28) 6 | 4 (78.85) Joe Cullen
George Killington (90.27) 6 | 3 (83.77) Rowby-John Rodriguez
William O'Connor (95.58) 6 | 1 (92.38) Gian van Veen
Keane Barry (88.63) 6 | 4 (85.93) Radek Szaganski
Ryan Joyce (102.63) 6 | 3 (95.52) Jimmy van Schie
Jitse Van der Wal (92.24) 6 | 4 (88.87) Paul Krohne
Luke Littler (91.68) 6 | 2 (83.80) Jules van Dongen
Lee Cocks (85.78) 6 | 2 (75.84) Danny van Trijp
Mensur Suljovic (100.27) 6 | 3 (92.77) Gabriel Clemens
Mickey Mansell (93.36) 6 | 4 (95.12) Ricky Evans
Jonny Clayton (100.34) 6 | 3 (96.97) Ryan Meikle
Christian Kist (103.77) 6 | 1 (106.57) Connor Scutt
Chris Landman (98.43) 6 | 1 (98.13) Ritchie Edhouse
Darryl Pilgrim (86.63) 6 | 2 (81.50) Daniel Klose
Josh Rock (104.98) 6 | 3 (98.78) Darren Beveridge
Simon Whitlock (85.39) 6 | 3 (77.96) Matt Campbell
Luke Woodhouse (87.91) 6 | 1 (86.50) Steve Lennon
Patrick Geeraets (93.26) 6 | 2 (83.12) Jelle Klaasen
Michael van Gerwen (96.83) 6 | 4 (92.89) Dylan Slevin
Scott Williams (89.34) 6 | 3 (85.31) William Borland
James Wade (108.34) 6 | 1 (88.32) Robert Grundy
Adam Gawlas (87.86) 6 | 3 (80.56) Dimitri Van den Bergh
Stephen Bunting (101.08) 6 | 1 (92.25) Wesley Plaisier
Dom Taylor (98.06) 6 | 3 (88.07) Stephen Burton
Jim Williams (107.40) 6 | 2 (110.64) Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ian White (90.60) 6 | 3 (87.84) Lee Evans
Daryl Gurney (96.43) 6 | 3 (94.29) Mervyn King
Steve Beaton (94.66) 6 | 1 (77.19) Arron Monk
Mike De Decker (94.44) 6 | 4 (84.59) Graham Hall
Martin Lukeman (96.61) 6 | 1 (88.28) Lukas Wenig
Martin Schindler (107.97) 6 | 2 (92.60) Jamie Hughes
Danny Lauby (88.24) 6 | 3 (88.21) Adam Warner
Brendan Dolan () W | F () Keegan Brown
Adam Hunt (90.72) 6 | 4 (89.82) David Evans
Danny Noppert (104.57) 6 | 4 (93.06) Owen Roelofs
Brett Claydon (86.58) 6 | 4 (82.11) Benjamin Reus
Wessel Nijman (113.50) 6 | 2 (82.78) Berry van Peer
Mario Vandenbogaerde (91.09) 6 | 3 (81.88) Graham Usher