MICHAEL van Gerwen maintained his spectacular form in 2015 as he went one better in Wigan to win the second UK Open Qualifier on Saturday.
After losing out in the final to Adrian Lewis at the Robin Park Tennis Centre on Friday, van Gerwen overcame a number of tough opponents before beating his best man Vincent van der Voort 6-1 in the final.
The world number one’s afternoon began with a 6-2 win over Nick Fullwell and a 6-3 success against Andy Boulton as he comfortably won his board.
Van Gerwen then saw off fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 in the last 32 before avenging his defeat to Lewis in the final the day before, as he turned the tables and ran out a 6-1 victor for the second game in a row.
Another tough examination would come in the next round as he defeated Michael Smith, who had been in impressive form on the day, to set up the final against van der Voort, who had beaten James Wade and Brendan Dolan en route to his place in the last two.
However, it would be van Gerwen who would come out on top as he raced into a 5-1 lead before hitting back-to-back maximums in the seventh leg as he looked to end the match in style.
Two more perfect darts would follow before the Dutchman just missed double 12 for a spectacular nine-darter before he returned to hit double six and seal the victory with a brilliant ten-dart leg.
The win was the 25-year-old’s 17th in 18 matches, meaning he has lost just once since the 2015 World Darts Championship, and van Gerwen was understandably delighted his latest victory.
“It’s really hard to win tournaments like these but I was the best player today, I was the runner-up yesterday and I feel great,” said van Gerwen.
“I was unlucky to miss the nine-darter in the last leg but I feel really good and I’ve qualified for the UK Open which is the main thing.
“I love to play to darts and I love to win things, the World Championship made me focus again and that’s really important sometimes so I feel good and hopefully I can maintain this form going into tomorrow.
“I didn’t have an easy run today and in tournaments like these there are no freebies, if you want to win you have to play well and I am really glad that I played well today.”
View all of the day's results using the link below.
Coral UK Open Qualifier Two
Saturday February 7, Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Preliminary Round
Sean Ryan 6-4 Steve West
Ryan de Vreede 6-3 Martyn Turner
Jan Dekker 6-3 Andrew Johnson
Alex Roy 6-3 Ryan Hoggarth
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Ross Smith
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-3 Andy Parsons
Mareno Michels 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Steve Hine 6-5 Kevin Bambrick
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Steve Perkins
Steve Douglas 6-2 Lee Evans
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Paul Rowley
Mark Cox 6-1 Tony Oak
John Walton (Sheff) 6-4 Gary Stone
Ricky Evans 6-3 Steve Grubb
John Bowles 6-3 Tony Randell
Mick Todd 6-0 Krit Middleton
Terry Temple 6-3 Dave Bird
Jason Lovett 6-1 Lee Whitworth
Ross Twell 6-5 Brian Woods
Mike Veitch 6-3 Jay Foreman
VIEW THE FULL DRAW BRACKET BY CLICKING HERE.
After losing out in the final to Adrian Lewis at the Robin Park Tennis Centre on Friday, van Gerwen overcame a number of tough opponents before beating his best man Vincent van der Voort 6-1 in the final.
The world number one’s afternoon began with a 6-2 win over Nick Fullwell and a 6-3 success against Andy Boulton as he comfortably won his board.
Van Gerwen then saw off fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 in the last 32 before avenging his defeat to Lewis in the final the day before, as he turned the tables and ran out a 6-1 victor for the second game in a row.
Another tough examination would come in the next round as he defeated Michael Smith, who had been in impressive form on the day, to set up the final against van der Voort, who had beaten James Wade and Brendan Dolan en route to his place in the last two.
However, it would be van Gerwen who would come out on top as he raced into a 5-1 lead before hitting back-to-back maximums in the seventh leg as he looked to end the match in style.
Two more perfect darts would follow before the Dutchman just missed double 12 for a spectacular nine-darter before he returned to hit double six and seal the victory with a brilliant ten-dart leg.
The win was the 25-year-old’s 17th in 18 matches, meaning he has lost just once since the 2015 World Darts Championship, and van Gerwen was understandably delighted his latest victory.
“It’s really hard to win tournaments like these but I was the best player today, I was the runner-up yesterday and I feel great,” said van Gerwen.
“I was unlucky to miss the nine-darter in the last leg but I feel really good and I’ve qualified for the UK Open which is the main thing.
“I love to play to darts and I love to win things, the World Championship made me focus again and that’s really important sometimes so I feel good and hopefully I can maintain this form going into tomorrow.
“I didn’t have an easy run today and in tournaments like these there are no freebies, if you want to win you have to play well and I am really glad that I played well today.”
View all of the day's results using the link below.
Coral UK Open Qualifier Two
Saturday February 7, Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Preliminary Round
Sean Ryan 6-4 Steve West
Ryan de Vreede 6-3 Martyn Turner
Jan Dekker 6-3 Andrew Johnson
Alex Roy 6-3 Ryan Hoggarth
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Ross Smith
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-3 Andy Parsons
Mareno Michels 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Steve Hine 6-5 Kevin Bambrick
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Steve Perkins
Steve Douglas 6-2 Lee Evans
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Paul Rowley
Mark Cox 6-1 Tony Oak
John Walton (Sheff) 6-4 Gary Stone
Ricky Evans 6-3 Steve Grubb
John Bowles 6-3 Tony Randell
Mick Todd 6-0 Krit Middleton
Terry Temple 6-3 Dave Bird
Jason Lovett 6-1 Lee Whitworth
Ross Twell 6-5 Brian Woods
Mike Veitch 6-3 Jay Foreman
VIEW THE FULL DRAW BRACKET BY CLICKING HERE.