PDC World Darts Cham
Wright was joined in the final by Michael van Gerwen after the
Dutchman produced one of the best displays of the tournament so far
to whitewash Adrian Lewis 6-0.
Lewis opened the game with a 180, but missed three doubles to win
the opening leg in a start which set the tone for the match and van
Gerwen capitalised by taking the set 3-1.
Lewis led in the second and took out 158 as he forced a deciding leg,
in which the pair traded 180s before van Gerwen finished 85 to double
his lead.
Van Gerwen then won the third set 3-1 before taking out finishes of 121
and 154 in claiming the fourth without replyas he moved towards the
winning line.
Lewis took out 112 to lead in set five, but was punished for further
missed doubles as van Gerwen won the next three legs to take a 5-0
lead, and although the Stoke ace fought back from two legs down in
the sixth set, the Dutchman was first to a finish in the decider as double
11 sealed his place in the final.
“It’s an amazing night,” said van Gerwen. “For me the score was not
6-0 but I did everything at the right moments and I knew that was
important.”
“Adrian missed a lot of doubles at the beginning of the game and I took
advantage of that. You’re not allowed to miss doubles at this stage of
the tournament and I kept it going tonight, I didn’t fall asleep like in
the quarter-finals against Mark Webster.”
“Peter’s a great player who has improved himself in the last year, and
also in this tournament with some great averages, but I’m playing
better game by game. My game’s good, my confidence is there and I’ve
got everything in me to be World Champion.”
“Tonight I have
achieved my
dream and it just
feels unbelievable
right now”
Michael van Gerwen
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
“Tonight I have
achieved my
dream and it just
feels unbelievable
right now”
Micheal van Gerwen
“This is another dream to be in the final - but this time I hope I can
win!”
Final
Van Gerwen raced into a four-set lead by winning 12 of the game’s
opening 14 legs as he made a stunning start to the match, before
Wright hit back to win the next two sets and halve the deficit.
However, the Scotsman went on to miss a dart at double top to win the
seventh set, and van Gerwen recovered on double eight to move 5-2
up and then took the next set 3-1 to move just one set from the title.
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig