Michael van Gerwen landed a nine-dart finish on his way to a stunning seventh Cazoo Players Championship Finals title on Sunday night as he defeated Rob Cross 11-6 in an incredible final.<\/p>\n
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The Dutchman claimed a fifth televised title of 2022, and a third ranking triumph on the big stage, with another extraordinary success at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.<\/p>\n
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Van Gerwen followed up his early-round wins over Ryan Meikle, Cameron Menzies and Dimitri Van den Bergh earlier in the weekend with three stellar displays on Sunday to scoop the \u00a3100,000 top prize.<\/p>\n
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He averaged over 100 in both his 10-7 quarter-final defeat of fellow countryman Danny Noppert and a dominant 11-5 success against Luke Humphries to book his spot in the final.<\/p>\n
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There, he delighted a packed Butlin’s crowd with a sensational nine-darter, a 170 checkout and a 142 finish on his way to claiming the title for a seventh time in ten years.<\/p>\n
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Van Gerwen broke down in tears as he dedicated the win to his daughter Zoe, and said: “My daughter was watching every game and said ‘Daddy, are you coming home with a big trophy again?’.<\/p>\n
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“I said if I win the trophy again it’s going to be yours, so that’s why I wanted to win it.<\/p>\n
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“I’m here to win tournaments – I love winning, I love performing on the stage and to produce something extra, something special in a final like this, gives me a lot of energy.<\/p>\n
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“It was a special game of darts – I think we both played well and we had to dig really deep, both of us.<\/p>\n
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“I managed to hit a nine-darter and 170 finish when it mattered but overall I think Rob Cross played a phenomenal game and the game had everything.<\/p>\n
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“I know I’m capable of a lot more but you also have to be realistic and to win this trophy again, for the seventh time, means a lot to me.”<\/p>\n
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Van Gerwen’s nine-darter came in the third leg of the final, opening with a 177 and then landing a 180 before finishing 144 on double 12 to achieve the feat for the second time in the event.<\/p>\n
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He also produced legs of 12 and 11 darts to move 6-2 up, with both players having six perfect darts in other legs during a heavy-scoring opening to the decider.<\/p>\n
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Cross had opened the final with a 13-dart leg and also posted two 14-darters, but found himself 7-3 down as Van Gerwen fired in a 12-darter – which featured another two 180s – to move four legs from the title.<\/p>\n
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Cross returned from the break with three successive legs to cut the gap to one leg – but crucially the Hastings ace missed two darts at double 16 to level in leg 14.<\/p>\n
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Van Gerwen ruthlessly stepped in to pounce with a 170 checkout, and took out 70 to restore breathing space at 9-6 before powering in a 142 checkout and double 16 to seal the title in style.<\/p>\n
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Cross followed up an excellent 10-3 quarter-final defeat of Dirk van Duijvenbode, where he averaged over 104 and missed just six darts at a double, with an 11-7 semi-final win over Jonny Clayton.<\/p>\n
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The 2018 World Champion was appearing in his first televised final for over a year, but had to settle for the \u00a350,000 runner-up cheque.<\/p>\n
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“It’s been an amazing weekend but it was Michael’s night,” said Cross. “Mike was phenomenal.<\/p>\n
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“Once I started to find my feet and find a few 180s, it could have been a little bit different but I missed chances and missed doubles.<\/p>\n
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“I really enjoyed this weekend and there are positives to take – I’ll move on to the World Championship.”<\/p>\n
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Humphries reached a second successive televised semi-final with a clinical 10-3 quarter-final win over Joe Cullen, while Clayton matched that scoreline in the last eight against Callan Rydz to continue his best run since September.<\/p>\n
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2022 Cazoo Players Championship Finals<\/strong><\/p>\n Sunday November 27<\/strong><\/p>\n Afternoon Session\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Quarter-Finals<\/strong><\/p>\n Jonny Clayton 10-3 Callan Rydz<\/p>\n Rob Cross 10-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode<\/p>\n Luke Humphries 10-3 Joe Cullen<\/p>\n Michael van Gerwen 10-7 Danny Noppert<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Evening Session<\/strong><\/p>\n Semi-Finals<\/strong><\/p>\n Rob Cross 11-7 Jonny Clayton<\/p>\n Michael van Gerwen 11-5 Luke Humphries<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Winmau World Youth Championship Final<\/strong><\/p>\n Josh Rock 6-1 Nathan Girvan<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Final<\/strong><\/p>\n Michael van Gerwen 11-6 Rob Cross<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael van Gerwen landed a nine-dart finish on his way to a stunning seventh Cazoo Players Championship Finals title on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[943,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-results"],"yoast_head":"\n