PDC World Championship - Report Final
BRILLIANT VAN GERWEN CLAIMS LADBROKES WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Michael van Gerwen has won the 2014 Ladbrokes World Darts Championship title, producing a thrilling performance to achieve his darting destiny with a 7-4 defeat of plucky Peter Wright at Alexandra Palace.Almost a decade after he first emerged as a teenage prodigy in Holland, the 24-year-old has won darts' biggest title as he claimed a 250,000 pound first prize and lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy as the new Ladbrokes World Darts Champion.
The triumph also lifts van Gerwen above previous World Champion Phil Taylor to the top of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time, and sees him become the sixth - and youngest - winner of the PDC World Championship.
Van Gerwen raced into a four-set lead by winning 12 of the game's opening 14 legs in a stunning start to the game, before Wright hit back to win the next two sets and halve the deficit. However, Wright missed one 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. 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.
Van Gerwen hit 16 maximums during the game and ended the final with a 100.10 average - but most importantly hoisted the Sid Waddell Trophy above his head to celebrate being crowned as Ladbrokes World Champion.
"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."
Wright, whose 100,000 pound runner-up prize is the biggest pay-day of his career to date, 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."
Wright will also now compete in the 2014 Premier League Darts after rising to seventh in the PDC Order of Merit, and said: "It's a great honour and it's going to be a totally different experience again. It it's anything like tonight's crowd, then having 10,000 people screaming my name will be amazing. I can focus on the Premier League and get ready for that and the next tournaments on the circuit. I've proved a point in the last year by going from 26th the world to number seven, so anyone can do it. I'm up to seventh now and there's another six people above me, so I'll be pushing after their places and they should watch out!"
Van Gerwen made a fine start to the final as won the opening two legs, breaking throw in the first with a 91 finish, on double nine.
Wright won the third with a two-dart 77 finish, which included a 180 from the Scot as he registered a 14-darter, before van Gerwen won the next on double ten to draw first blood.
The world number two took that good form into set two as he won the first leg in 12 darts, before claiming the two by punishing misses from Wright as he won the set without reply.
Van Gerwen stormed through the third set by hitting two consecutive 13-darters and a 108 finish in the third leg to win the set without reply, and added to Wright's pain by taking the first two legs of set four. Wright managed to stop the rot in third by converting a 63 finish on double 16 to win his first leg in ten, but he was unable to prevent van Gerwen from establishing a four-seat lead as the Dutchman wrapped up the set with a 71 finish. The opening two legs of the fifth were shared before Wright regained the lead by taking the third in 13 darts, before a brilliant 130 checkout from the Scot secured the set in style. Wright, bouyed by winning the fifth set, then took the first two legs of the sixth on double 16, and though van Gerwen hit back by finishing 80 in the next, the number 16 seed took out 100 to reduce the gap to 4-2.
Wright led the seventh set 2-1 before van Gerwen took out a 64 finish to level, and the Dutchman edged a vital deciding leg on double eight after his opponent missed one dart at tops to win a third successive set. Van Gerwen started the eighth set well with a 14-darter, before Wright replied to win the second leg with an 81 finish on double six. The Dutchman won the third leg with a two-dart 96 finish, and then secured the set on double two, to move 6-2 up, after Wright missed four chances to force a decider.
The players shared the first two legs of the ninth set, before Wright edged ahead on double 18 in the third, after van Gerwen was guilty of wasting three darts at double top.
Wright then won the set on double six before making a great start to set ten as he hit finishes of 104 and 76 to win the first two legs.
Van Gerwen took the third on double 14, before Wright hit double 13 at the first time of asking to win the set and keep his hopes alive at 6-4.
The Dutchman dropped the opening leg of the eleventh, having missed three chances to break, before hitting back with an excellent 124 checkout to take the second.
Van Gerwen raised hopes of a nine-darter in the next as he started with consecutive 180s, and though his attempt at a seventh treble 20 fell low, he won the leg in 11 darts to move one leg away from victory. The set's deciding leg saw Wright miss two darts at double top for a 58 finish to pull back to 6-5, and that proved to be his final chance as van Gerwen took out a 72 finish on double top to achieve his darting dream.
The final also saw van Gerwen hit 16 180s and Wright land six maximums, as the World Championship record of 588 - set in 2012 - was smashed with a total of 603, earning a donation of 12,000 pound from Ladbrokes to Haven House Children's Hospice, the PDC's Official Charity.
