Michael van Gerwen ended his winless streak on the PDC Pro Tour with an impressive performance, defeating compatriot Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-5 in Tuesday’s final at The Players Championship 15 in Leicester.
Van Gerwen, fighting for a place in the Premier League Darts Playoffs, produced his best darts to win his first Pro Tour title since October 2024.
The 37-year-old said the win “means a lot” and he will be looking ahead to Thursday when he takes on Gerwyn Price in Premier League Darts in Birmingham, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. That will be crucial as they aim to finish in the top four and qualify for the final in London.
“Everyone knows I’m capable, so don’t underestimate me,” Van Gerwen said.
“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I’ve been doing it a little bit, but now I just enjoy what I do when I can. So I think that’s the next thing.”
Michael van Gerwen hadn’t won on a Pro Tour in 19 months
Van Gerwen started the day with back-to-back 6-4 wins over Denny Old Kalt, Adam Lipscomb, Ross Smith and Jan van Veen, setting up his encounter with Beau Greaves in the quarter-finals.
The pair split the opening four legs before Van Gerwen broke away and began an incredibly strong run that continued for the remainder of the day, with Greaves winning 6-2.
In the semi-finals, Van Gerwen averaged 122.34 points, the highest of the day, defeating Germany’s Martin Schindler, who also averaged 108.78 points, 7-0.
He continued his high level in the final, taking an early 3-0 lead, but Van Duijvenbode fought back to make it 4-4. However, Van Gerwen scored a hat trick from 5-5 to win his 37th career Pro Tour title.
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Watch BTS’s hilarious reel as Michael Van Gerwen gets pranked by Emma Payton and Mark Webster – Photo: @paddypower
“I was struggling at the beginning of the day. I didn’t play bad, but I could have done more here and there. I missed too many doubles,” he said.
“The last three or four matches were nothing to complain about. I played some great darts against Bo, I beat Martin and it was Dirk in the final. What a day!”
Van Duijvenbode again found his form, defeating Stephen Bunting 7-5 in the semi-finals and Josh Locke 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Wessel Nyman, who won the Players Championship this year five times, lost 6-5 to Schindler in the last 16, and Johnny Clayton ended the day with a 6-5 loss to Dave Chisnall in the last 32.
Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price were among those who did not attend the event.
Players Championship 15 Results – Leicester
last 16
Martin Schindler 6-5 Wessel Nyman
Richie Edhouse 6 – 2 Keene Barry
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Jan van Veen
Borgreaves 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Chris Dobey
Josh Locke 6-5 Derek Coulson
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Andy Boulton
Joe Cullen 6-2 Kim Huybrecht
quarterfinals
Martin Schindler 6-2 Richie Edhaus
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Beau Greaves
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Josh Locke
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Joe Cullen
Semi-final
Michael van Gerwen 7-0 Martin Schindler
Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-5 Stephen Bunting
final
Michael van Gerwen 8-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
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