Michael van Gerwen wrote history in London on Thursday by winning the Premier League for the seventh time. The Dutchman, who was 11-5 too strong for Gerwyn Price in the final, is the first darts player to have managed that.
Price and Van Gerwen turned it into a great darts battle in the 02 Arena. The tipping point came in the sixth leg, when the three-time world champion hit a 170 finish. As a result, Van Gerwen took a 4-2 lead.
With a 128 finish, Van Gerwen Price broke again in the eighth leg (8-4), after which he never gave up his four-leg margin. Van Gerwen recorded an impressive average of 105.43 per three arrows. Price could not compete with an average of 99.5.
The 38-year-old Price was in advance the man to beat in the English capital. The Welshman had finished top of the league in the regular season. Earlier in the evening he had crushed his compatriot Jonny Clayton 10-2 in the semi-finals.
Van Gerwen had won 10-8 against Michael Smith in the semi-finals in an exciting match. That match was a repeat of the World Cup final earlier this year. Smith was then just too strong for the three-time world champion.
Van Gerwen was already the record holder together with Taylor
Until Thursday evening, Van Gerwen was already the record holder with Phil Taylor in terms of final victories in the Premier League. The English darts legend also won the Premier League six times between 2005 and 2012.
Thanks to his victory, Van Gerwen is 275,000 pounds (more than 317,000 euros) richer. For Van Gerwen, his win in the Premier League is his first major title of the year. In November last year he won his last major televised tournament at the Players Championship Finals.
Last year in Berlin, Van Gerwen also won the Premier League. De Brabander survived a match dart against Joe Cullen in the final and won 11-10. Van Gerwen was also the best in the Premier League in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
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