Michael van Gerwen is looking for more glory after securing his third successive Premier League darts title with a 6-4 win over Nathan Aspinall. The Dutchman beat Gerwyn Price and teenager Luke Littler to reach the final, with the seven-time Premier League champions coming from behind to beat Aspinall.
Aspinall got off to a good start with two successive leg wins, but was left to rue the double miss that plagued him throughout the night as van Gerwen hit a 10-darter break en route to leading 5-2. Ta.
Van Gerwen needed one leg to win, but Aspinall came back and almost took the match to a decider in the 10th leg, but missed the double 16. The Dutchman made no mistake, finishing off the win with a double 18. It will be a comfortable position for the next few weeks.
He said in the post-match press conference: “I think it was obviously really big to win the third leg again on a Premier League night, but it’s tough. “I think it was a tough draw tonight, we won against Gaethje in the first game, then we won against Luke Littler and then of course It wasn’t easy to beat Nathan Aspinall in the final, but of course you still have to do it. And it’s always a great feeling to actually make it happen.
“Obviously I want to be as comfortable as possible, but I think with this win I can look forward to next week as well, but that’s what I want to do. Put myself in a comfortable position and do some damage again and make sure we get some points.” I want to, that’s the only thing I can do.”
Van Gerwen defeated Price in the quarter-finals and advanced to the final with a 6-5 win over Littler in the last four. The teenager beat Peter Wright 6-5 in the quarter-finals in a close contest to set up a last-four showdown with the world number two, but Littler ramped up the pressure.
Van Gerwen missed six match darts and allowed ‘The Nuke’ to reach the final point, but the Dutchman kept his cool in the final leg and fired a 90 to win. He currently leads the standings by eight points and believes he has a different mindset in his approach this year.
“When you play against the best players, you have to play your best game, perform and win,” he added. “Obviously, as you go through the weeks, you’re going to have bad days and good days, but overall you have to keep the momentum going and that’s what I’m working on right now.
“I think my mindset has changed now. I’m going to take it week by week and not put myself in the same position as last year. Last year it was one more week and I wasn’t as mentally fulfilled, but this year changed that.”
Thursday marked Aspinall’s first Premier League final of the season with a semi-final win over Rob Cross. After narrowly defeating Michael Smith 6-5 in the quarterfinals, ASP faced a tough test against Cross, but a missed double allowed ‘Voltage’ to get back into the match. A struggle in the outer ring saw Cross miss three match darts before missing a double 16, and Aspinall made no mistake to end the match with his next dart.
