Er had done his duty and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Players Championship Finals with a commanding victory over Gary Anderson. A success that did not want to put Michael van Gerwen in a good mood.
“The conditions under which we play here are absolutely ridiculous,” explained “Mighty Mike”, alluding to the cold and the light wind that the players had already experienced on Friday at the start of the last major tournament before the 15th. December in London beginning Darts World Championship had affected.
Players repeatedly blew their warm breath into their fists, did warm-up exercises and hid their hands in their trouser pockets as they went on stage. In addition, a noticeably large number of arrows landed a little further to the left than intended, for example in the 5 instead of the 20. The first who carefully addressed the subject was Raymond van Barneveld.
“It’s cold up there” – Raymond van Barneveld didn’t really warm up in Minehead either
Quelle: pa/empics/Bradley Collyer
Van Gerwen now became clearer: “If we look at the top players: is someone playing his A-Game? No, nobody can get their best performance here because the conditions are just really not good. It’s pretty cold, there’s a slight wind on the stage. And that makes it really difficult. You want to play well, but it’s too difficult. The standard at this tournament is not high enough and that has to do with the conditions we have to deal with here. “
Addressee of his criticism: the organizing Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which is holding its annual ProTour closing at Butlin’s Resort in the seaside resort of Minehead. The games are played in a spacious holiday and leisure park, which allows the PDC to have the games take place on two stages in parallel.
“Nobody should say that, nobody has the balls to address it. But I’ll say it: I don’t feel good here, Gary doesn’t feel good, and neither do the other players, “added van Gerwen and made a suggestion:” It’s a big tent here and it’s windy outside. There is nothing you can do about it. The venue is not made for such weather. But we play here twice in winter: in March, when the weather is just as bad, and at the end of November. Let’s play here in the summer or something. That would be a completely different matter. “
In addition to the Players Championship Finals, Minehead also traditionally hosts the UK Open in spring. If Michael van Gerwen has his way, the date would have to be postponed or the venue changed: “You want to show the audience your best performance, but you make too many mistakes.”
His below average 95.06 points on average were enough to put Anderson in his place. The Scot only hit six of his 31 attempts on the doubles.
Clear thing: Gary Anderson had no chance against Michael van Gerwen, rarely hit a double
Source: pa / empics / Steven Paston
In the quarter-finals on Sunday (from 2 p.m. live on Sport1 and in the stream on DAZN *) the Dutchman will meet Peter Wright, who got into a heated argument with his opponent after his second round win against Adrian Lewis in the afternoon and beat 10: 8 in the second round Clemens conqueror Damon Heta won.
In the round of the last eight there are also Jose de Sousa, Ryan Searle, Vincent van der Voort and Daryl Gurney, who prevailed at a manageable level. Only Jonny Clayton and Luke Humphries offered great class in their round of 16. Clayton narrowly prevailed in the decider after two match darts from Humphries.
Surprising end: Gerwyn Price just lost to Brendan Dolan
Quelle: dpa/Kieran Cleeves
His Welsh compatriot and world champion Gerwyn Price, who scored only 23 percent of his attempts on the doubles against Brandon Dolan and, like van Gerwen, landed at an average of 95.48, was eliminated. Dolan achieved a quota of 33 percent to move into the quarter-finals with a miserable throwing average of 89.78. “That was definitely not my best match,” confessed the “History Maker”. Van Gerwen had previously explained the reasons for the lower standard in detail. Germans are no longer in the tournament. Like Gabriel Clemens, Martin Schindler was eliminated in the second round.
The first round at a glance
Jose de Sousa – Devon Petersen 6: 4
Mervyn King – Darius Labanauskas 4: 6
Chris Dobey – William O‘Connor 5:6
Krzysztof Ratajski – Ron Meulenkamp 6:1
Gerwyn Price – Jason Lowe 6: 3
Martin Schindler – Ian White 6:3
Brendan Dolan – Chas Barstow 6:2
Dave Chisnall – Ritchie Edhouse 4:6
Michael Smith – William Borland 6:3
Daryl Gurney – Alan Soutar 6:3
Callan Rydz – Mensur Suljovic 6:1
James Wade – Ricky Evans 6:1
Ryan Searle – Simon Whitlock 6:5
Ryan Joyce – Luke Woodhouse 6:4
Rob Cross – Jermaine Wattimena 6:2
Nathan Aspinall – Jeff Smith 6:2
Peter Wright – Keane Barry 6:4
Adrian Lewis – Kim Huybrechts 6:3
Damon Heta – Steve Lennon 6:2
Gabriel Clemens – Steve Beaton 6:5
Michael van Gerwen – Kevin Doets 6:3
Raymond van Barneveld – Maik Kuivenhoven 6:1
Dirk van Duijvenbode – Ryan Meikle 5:6
Stephen Bunting – Gary Anderson 5:6
Jonny Clayton – Alan Tabern 6:4
Scott Mitchell – Martijn Kleermaker 6:5
Ross Smith – Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6:2
Luke Humphries – Jason Heaver 6:4
Joe Cullen – Andy Boulton 5:6
Vincent van der Voort – Jelle Klaasen 6:4
Dimitri Van den Bergh – Madars Razma
Danny Noppert – Rowby-John Rodriguez 6: 2
The 2nd round
Jose de Sousa – Darius Labanauskas 6: 5
William O’Connor – Krzysztof Ratajski 6: 4
Gerwyn Price – Martin Schindler 6: 1
Brendan Dolan – Ritchie Edhouse 6:3
Michael Smith – Daryl Gurney 5:6
Callan Rydz – James Wade 5:6
Ryan Searle – Ryan Joyce 6:5
Rob Cross – Nathan Aspinall 6:4
Peter Wright – Adrian Lewis 6:5
Damon Heta – Gabriel Clemens 6:2
Michael van Gerwen – Raymond van Barneveld 6:3
Ryan Meikle – Gary Anderson 2:6
Jonny Clayton – Scott Mitchell 6:0
Ross Smith – Luke Humphries 5:6
Andy Boulton – Vincent van der Voort 5:6
Dimitri Van den Bergh – Danny Noppert 2: 6
The last sixteen
Jose de Sousa – William O’Connor 10:7
Gerwyn Price – Brendan Dolan 8:10
Daryl Gurney – James Wade 10:7
Ryan Searle – Rob Cross 10:7
Peter Wright – Damon Heta 10:8
Michael van Gerwen – Gary Anderson 10:6
Jonny Clayton – Luke Humphries 10:9
Vincent van der Voort – Danny Noppert 10:7
The quarterfinals
Jose de Sousa – Brendan Dolan
Daryl Gurney – Ryan Searle
Peter Wright – Michael van Gerwen
Jonny Clayton – Vincent van der Voort
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