Players Championship 15 Round-Up | Michael van Gerwen wins first ProTour title in nearly two years during incredible run featuring 122 average

Players Championship 15 took place today in Leicester, with many top names again deciding against playing in the East Midlands city. Michael van Gerwen, Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, and Josh Rock, though out of the Premier League contingent, did alongside forerunner Wessel Nijman.

But it was Van Gerwen who managed to seal the title, seeing off Dirk van Duijvenbode in an 8-5 win in the final to win his first ProTour title since October 2024. It is also his 37th in all, showing his brilliance over the years.

But in a year where he has admitted that rankings are his priority, it will no doubt bring him great joy to seal a ProTour and do what he has set out to do. While many of the top names have skipped events, Van Gerwen has played the vast majority and it has paid off.

To start the final, Van Duijvenbode looked at 128 but he drifts into treble one and MVG got three at double 12 to hold. Double 20 for MVG follows as he pins 74 to go 2-0 up. He broke and was throwing for 3-0. He hit double four for 3-0.

Van Gerwen couldn't pin 170, and Van Duijvenbode returned on double eight to pin 25 to get on the board at 3-1 down. Van Gerwen hits double 16 to go 4-1 up and towards the title. Van Duijvenbode missed 170, and Van Gerwen was back for 126 but also missed the bull, so Van Duijvenbode looked at 25, and he pinned double four for 4-2 down.

Van Duijvenbode broke back, pinning double 18 for 4-3. MVG missed 108, and Van Duijvenbode returned to pin double 20 for parity. Van Gerwen stopped the rot with a 72 checkout for 5-4. Van Duijvenbode pinned double 16 for 5-5. A 98 checkout on double 19 for Van Gerwen as he went 6-5 up. He broke with an 87 checkout to go one away. Van Duijvenbode misses two at 100 for 7-6 down and MVG hits bull on 65 but then hits double four for the title. Demon darts from Mighty Mike.

Before the final, it was Van Gerwen who produced one of the best displays ever seen on the ProTour as he smashed Martin Schindler with a 122 average. He won legs in 12, 12, 15, 11, 22, 13, and 11 darts to seal his spot in a pretty incredible win.

Before that, he had taken down Beau Greaves, who herself had another great day but was thwarted by the Green Machine, who won 6-2 with a 102 average. He saw off Gian van Veen in a 6-4 win, averaging 101 in the round before after defeating Ross Smith, Adam Lipscombe and Dennie Olde Kalter as he went from mid 90's averages up to 100+ by the time the latter stages came.

Van Duijvenbode also saw off top Premier League names as he defeated Stephen Bunting 7-5 to reach the final after defeating Josh Rock 6-3. He had seen off Chris Dobey, Darryl Pilgrim, Niall Culleton, and Tytus Kanik.

It was a day of pretty huge averages with the Last 32 in particular seeing Martin Schindler average 113 in seeing off Darius Labanauskas, Chris Dobey hit 110 against Richard Veenstra, while Kim Huybrechts, who had just seen off Dimitri van den Bergh, swept aside Jermaine Wattimena with 107 on the board, adjacent to Joe Cullen hitting 107 against Niko Springer.

Wessel Nijman, who of course came in as the pick of the players given his year so far, lost out to Martin Schindler 6-5 with a 105 average in the Last 16. While Jonny Clayton, the leading light from the Premier League contingent, lost to Dave Chisnall 6-5.