Final at US Darts Masters for Van Gerwen

Wim Blokpoel - This weekend the PDC World Series of Darts had it’s first event in 2022: the US Darts Masters, for the very first time it was held in New York!

Dutch number one Michael van Gerwen and Dutch American Jules van Dongen drew each other in round 1! Van Dongen had a slow start, as Van Gerwen easily took a 3-0 lead, but ‘The Dutch Dragon’ fought back, and won legs in 13, 12 and 14 darts and eventually Van Gerwen only led 4-3. Two poor legs from both followed, and both won one of them, making it 5-4. In leg 10, it was ‘Mighty Mike’ who hit a 13-darter as he won 6-4!

Before the quarter-finals started, the North American Championship was held first, where Van Dongen started against Leonard Gates. Gates took a 2-1 lead, and an 11-darter even made it 3-1. JVD fought back to 3-2 with a 13-darter, but at 2-4 down it was Gates who won legs in 14 and 12 darts, as Van Dongen lost 2-6 to eventual winner Gates.

Back to the US Masters, where Van Gerwen took on James Wade in the quarter-finals. Wade didn’t get going at all, and very soon it was a 5-0 lead for MVG! At 5-1 it were legs won in 14 and 11 darts for Mighty Mike to lead 7-1! Wade got to win 2 more legs, but another 14-darter meant an 8-3 win for Michael van Gerwen, who averaged 98,6! Into the semi-finals, where 2017 winner Van Gerwen took on World Number 2 Gerwyn Price! At 1-2 down, MVG went on a run and won 5 legs in a row to lead 6-2! At 6-3, both men hit a 13-darter for 7-4 and a 15-darter in leg 12 saw Van Gerwen have another easy win, 8-4 and an average of 99,6! 

In the final Van Gerwen took on Michael Smith. At 1-1 a 14 and 15-darter daw Van Gerwen take an early 3-1 lead. Smith however won legs in 15 and 13 dart to level at 3-3. After a 4-3 lead for Mighty Mike, Smith went on a run though. Winning legs in 14, 15, 14 and 14 darts saw him lead 7-4 suddenly! Smith managed to finish it in style as a 12-darter saw him win the US Masters, and pick up a second World Series title in his career! Van Gerwen had to take second place this time. Next week the World Series continues with the Nordic Masters in Denmark, where MVG will be the defending champion!