MICHAEL VAN GERWEN has vowed to bounce back from his defeat in the BetVictor World Matchplay final against Phil Taylor.
The World Champion suffered an 18-9 defeat to rival Taylor as he saw his hopes of claiming his first World Matchplay triumph ended in spectacular fashion.
Taylor took leads of 7-1 and 11-2 against van Gerwen to assert his dominance before going on to complete his seventh successive World Matchplay triumph.
The win for Taylor saw him avenge defeats to van Gerwen in the deciders of the 2013 Premier League Darts and Players Championship Finals, as the Dutchman took two of his rival's titles on his way to the top of the PDC Order of Merit when he succeeded the Stoke legend as World Champion in January.
Although van Gerwen was left with tears of disappointment on the Winter Gardens stage, he has pledged to learn from the defeat and come back stronger when he returns to action in the World Series of Darts triple-header in August following his marriage to partner Daphne.
Van Gerwen said: "Phil was fantastic. He showed his class and was the better player all [through] the tournament.
"I didn't perform as well as I could and in the final there was a moment I could have got closer and I'm disappointed that I didn't show up. "I'm very happy that I got to the final, but I didn't perform at this tournament.
"It wasn't nice, especially when the fans were singing "easy, easy, easy". That hurts because I was trying to show everyone what I can do.
"In the past I've hurt Phil before, especially in the Premier League final, and I've seen him disappointed. I'll move on from this because you learn from things like this.
"I'm still number one in the world and I'll be back in the next tournament to rip someone's head off!"