mpionships
Wright took the ninth and tenth sets 3-1 to continue his revival by
pulling back to 6-4, but van Gerwen hit back from a leg down in the
11th set with a nerve-settling 124 finish before taking the deciding leg
on double top to complete his triumph.
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
The victory, which many have spoken about as destiny for the young
Dutchman since he emerged as a teenage prodigy in Holland almost a
decade ago, saw van Gerwen move into the number one spot on the
Order of Merit, overtaking Phil Taylor, who had held the position since
2008.
“Tonight I have achieved my dream and it just feels unbelievable
right now,” said van Gerwen. “It’s the biggest night of my life and I’m
delighted.”
“I made a great start and got ahead straight away, but when I was 4-0
up I realised I was close to winning and I started to get nervous.”
“You could see that in my game when Peter came back at me. He came
back well but I made a few mistakes and let him in.”
“It’s not always how you start but how you finish, and when I hit double
top to win the match, it was a huge relief and a big weight off my
shoulders. It was my shot of the tournament, a great finish and I’m very
glad I hit it.”
“It’s the biggest moment of my life - this is a dream come true to be
World Champion and also number one in the world. I hope I can win
loads more tournaments and I’ll be aiming for that now.”
“The crowd have
been wonderful to
me throughout this
tournament and
I have so many
great memories”
Peter Wright
Wright said: “I never gave up at 4-0 down and if I was going to come
out second best then I wanted to make him earn it.”
“If I’d managed to hit one of those two attempts at double top to make
it 6-5, then I would have really fancied my chances.”
“I had shots at doubles early on that I should have pinned and I’m
gutted because my doubles have been the most important thing for
the past couple of weeks, so to not put Michael under pressure earlier
cost me.”
“I did have some nerves early on but the atmosphere wasn’t what I
expected. It was amazing, you can’t buy that feeling and next year I’ll
know what to expect.”
“The crowd have been wonderful to me throughout this tournament
and I have so many great memories. Hopefully I’ll be the lifting the Sid
Waddell Trophy in 12 months time.”
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig