Van Gerwen shouted those words at the start of the sixth set on the stage of the packed Alexandra Palace, when he seemed to deal the final blow to Dobey with a phenomenal finish of 158. ‘Mighty Mike’ was already leading 4-1 in sets and showed that there was really nothing to gain for the Englishman, who was playing his first World Cup semi-final ever. He almost added a 153 finish…
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It was the result of a walkover by the Dutchman that had been unfolding for some time. Van Gerwen got off to a good start and quickly won the first set, including an 11-darter and nice finishes of 100 and 75. The second set was also a prey for the Vlijmen resident, due to Dobey missing the doubles. From 40 points he missed three arrows, where the three-time world champion put the 3-2 on the board via triple 14 and double 16 (2-0 in sets).
Helped into saddle by Van Gerwen
But what no one dared to put their money on at that time happened anyway, helped in the saddle by Van Gerwen. The many misses on the Dutchman’s doubles at the beginning of the third set were ultimately punished by Dobey – even if it was in four arrows. That gave ‘Hollywood’ visible courage, because with a 170 finish in 12 arrows and a finish of 108, he took the set 3-0: 2-1.
It didn’t affect Van Gerwen, who switched things up for a while. He beat Dobey himself with 3-0, including an amazing 10-darter: 3-1. While the Dutchman was not nearly as good as he was the day before against Callan Rydz, which turned out not to be necessary, he was now relaxed on cruise control on the London highway towards the World Cup final.
New piece of darts history is approaching
Van Gerwen quickly advanced to 2-0 in the third set, but left Dobey alive for a while when he missed no fewer than five set arrows on double 8 (2-1). A leg later, after a miss on double 10 for a 130 finish, he still managed to take a large 4-1 lead in his seventh set. Then there was De Groene Sloopkogel’s ‘straightforward’ set, which he concluded with a 13-darter: 5-1. He was one set away from a new piece of darts history.
In his penultimate turn he threw a 180’er, only to miss two match darts on double 16. A turn later the final arrow still fell.
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