NOS Sport•yesterday, 10:45 PM•Amended today, 00:01
After a mixed match, in which he threw very well at times, Michael van Gerwen reached the eighth finals of the World Darts Championship in London. The Brabander reached a very high level in a few sets against the Northern Irishman Brendan Dolan and won 4-2.
“I played well at times,” Van Gerwen said afterwards. “I also had bad phases, but I think I showed some balls and did the right things at the end, when it only became more difficult.”
Van Gerwen finds it difficult to explain the variability in the match. “Well, I think it also has to do with the opponent. Dolan throws dirty finishes at important moments. And he throws a little slower, which makes it difficult to get into your rhythm. There is still a lot to improve on and I think I can show a lot more.”
Van Gerwen wins, but was under high tension: ‘I really showed balls’
After a weak first set, which he lost, Van Gerwen turned on the engine. ‘Mighty Mike’ threw some high finishes (including 149 and 129) and gave his opponent no breathing space. He even won the third and fourth sets without losing a leg.
Dolan, nicknamed ‘The History Maker’, could argue little. After a short break, he recovered somewhat and also won a set, but the Northern Irishman was ultimately no match for Van Gerwen’s darts violence.
In the last set it became even more exciting when Dolan scored a high finish and Van Gerwen also faltered on his doubles. Yet the three-time world champion managed to take the decisive leg and thus decide the match.
Van Gerwen will play in the eighth finals against the winner of the match between Paolo Nebrida and Jeffrey de Graaf, the Swedish Dutchman. That party is tomorrow.
Tomorrow Kevin Doets will also be in action: he will play against the Pole Krzysztof Ratajski. Together with Van Gerwen, Doets is the only remaining Dutchman at the World Darts Championship, for which sixteen Dutchmen were qualified.
Littler past White
Luke Littler, last year’s finalist and one of the favorites for the overall victory, also reached the eighth finals. The 17-year-old Englishman beat his 54-year-old compatriot Ian White: 4-1.
That was the last match of the evening at Alexandra Palace, but certainly not the least. Both dart players threw a large number of 180’s (eighteen in total) and treated the crowd to a number of impressive finishes.
Partly due to White playing well, Littler had more difficulty winning the game than expected. The usually cool teenager showed that the tension was definitely on after winning the hard-fought fourth set. After the decisive arrow he let out a long cry.
With that 3-1 lead, the match was over, as it turned out. In the final set, Littler added a number of 180’s to his total – he finished with twelve – and decided the game in his favor.
Dobey through
The evening session was opened by Chris Dobey and Josh Rock. The Englishman and the Northern Irishman are close to each other in the world rankings (15th and 18th) and also made it an equal match.
After four sets the score was 2-2 in Alexandra Palace, but after that Dobey showed that he had more experience and calmness than his 23-year-old opponent. The Englishman won the last two sets and decided the match in a beautiful way: with two arrows in double 19.
