Michael van Gerwen eases past Gabriel Clemens, first into final at Players Championship Finals

Michael van Gerwen is one win away from an eighth Players Championship Finals crown after defeating Gabriel Clemens 11-6 in the semi-finals in Minehead on Sunday evening.

Van Gerwen who has had doubts about his form coming into the run up to the World Championship has dispelled them with a 118 average and steady displays over the weekend including his comeback win over Stephen Bunting. He will now either face Luke Humphries in what is seen as a battle between the top two players in the world or Ryan Joyce.

Van Gerwen hit two double 19's en route to easing into a 3-1 lead over Clemens. The German remained with him going 3-2 and 4-5 behind with the latter being an 81 checkout on the bull.

But Van Gerwen opened a gap once more after the interval. He moved 7-5 ahead and breached towards the finishing line with a 90 checkout to make it 9-5 in the race to 11. A third 180 and 87 checkout on the bull saw him move one away at 10-5.

Albeit after Clemens had spurned opportunity after opportunity in MVG going 8-5 up to garner a foothold again. After the typical break one leg before the end, Van Gerwen missed 118 on the bull.

But with Clemens again unable to mop up, he hit double eight to seal the win 11-6 with a 101 average, four 180's and 52.4% on the outer ring.