In a scintillating last 16 clash at the PDC World Darts Championship, Michael van Gerwen showed the character of a champion to hold off a valiant Jeffrey de Graaf fightback and book his place in the quarter-finals. The three-time winner raced into a two-set lead but had to dig deep as the Swede launched a spirited comeback to level the match at 2-2.
Van Gerwen Restores Order After De Graaf Fightback
In recent years, the Dutchman has often been accused of not having the mental fortitude of his imperial phase from 2016-2018. But here, he responded in superb style, powering through the final two sets to eventually prevail 4-2 with a 102 average, 11 trebleless visits and a checkout percentage of 46%. It was a statement performance from a man with his eyes firmly set on a fourth world title.
Speaking afterwards, an emotional Van Gerwen paid tribute to the raucous Alexandra Palace crowd and admitted he was missing his family over the festive period. But with seeds tumbling around him, most notably Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson, he will know this represents a golden opportunity to end his six-year drought in this event.
The biggest beneficiary of Humphries’ shock exit is arguably Stephen Bunting, who demolished Luke Woodhouse 4-0 to continue his impressive run. A cult hero with one of the best walk-ons in darts, the likeable Scouser is hitting form at just the right time.
Aspinall and Dobey Progress
Elsewhere, Nathan Aspinall swept aside Ricardo Pietreczko to set up a last eight clash with Van Gerwen, while Chris Dobey battled past Kevin Doets in a deciding set to book a showdown with Gerwyn Price. Neither Aspinall nor Dobey have hit top gear yet, but crucially they are still standing as we enter the business end of the tournament.
Something real has changed here. Darts is no longer his alpha and omega, his sole reason for being, and these days he seems more sanguine about no longer being the force of old.
– Jonathan Liew on Michael van Gerwen
So after 12 days of shocks, drama and spectacular darts, just eight men remain in the hunt to be crowned PDC world champion on January 3rd. While new names have undoubtedly come to the fore, in Van Gerwen and Price the two most successful players of recent times are hitting their stride at just the right moment. As the great Dutch master eyes title number four, write him off at your peril.
