Nine-Dart MVG Regains World Series

Nine-Dart MVG Regains World Series

Alex Moss |

A Week In Darts – September 18, 2023 – Nine-Dart Van Gerwen Wins World Series

Another busy week in the world of darts featured the PDC's World Series of Darts tour concluding in Amsterdam, alongside top players competing in the PDC Women's Series and WDF-ranked British Open in Wigan and Bridlington. Here’s a round-up of an action-packed weekend…

NINE-DART MVG SEALS WORLD SERIES TITLE

Michael van Gerwen delighted his home crowd as he celebrated a record-extending fifth World Series of Darts Finals title in Amsterdam on Sunday evening.

The Dutchman raised the roof at the AFAS Live with a nine-dart leg in his semi-final victory against Luke Humphries, before beating World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall 11-4 in the final.

Van Gerwen’s campaign started on Saturday night where he battled back from 3-0 down to edge past Ireland’s Willie O’Connor 6-4 in the last 16.

A 103 average and nine 180s helped him see off Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-8 in the quarter-finals, before surviving three match darts in a thrilling 11-10 semi-final clash with Humphries.

“The most important thing for me is to win another title on stage,” van Gerwen reflected. “You always want to perform well, and to do it in front of your home crowd, it gives you such a good feeling.

“I think the biggest challenge for me was the pressure of playing in front of the home crowd, but they have been absolutely fantastic this weekend.

“Even Luke Humphries after our semi-final said that the crowd were phenomenal, and you can only be proud of that.”

Keegan Brown impressed at the weekend with a run to his first major quarter-final in nine years, beating Simon Whitlock and Gerwyn Price to reach the final day in Amsterdam.

TITLES SHARED AROUND ON THE WOMEN’S SERIES

The penultimate PDC Women’s Series weekend of 2023 saw four different winners across the four events in Wigan.

On Saturday, Japan’s Mikuru Suzuki claimed her third title of the season with a 5-1 win over Lisa Ashton in the Event 17 final, before Ashton went one better as she whitewashed Anastasia Dobromyslova 5-0 in the Event 18 decider.

Sunday’s action started with Women’s Series Order of Merit leader Beau Greaves getting back to winning ways, beating Dobromyslova 5-2 in the Event 19 final to claim a record-extending 20th title.

And Fallon Sherrock made sure the weekend finished with a fourth different winner as the ‘Queen of the Palace’ edged past Greaves 5-4 in the final of Event 20 to win her second title of 2023.

This year’s Women’s Series concludes with Events 21-24 in Wigan on October 14-15 with two spots in the PDC World Championship and a place in the Grand Slam of Darts up for grabs.

With Greaves having already qualified as the Women’s World Matchplay champion, the player who finishes second on the Order of Merit will earn a spot in the Grand Slam, while second and third will join Greaves at Alexandra Palace in December.

Suzuki (£13,300) holds a healthy lead in second place ahead of Sherrock (£11,100), Ashton (£8,950) and Rhian O’Sullivan (£7,800).

AROUND THE BOARD

Last week also saw the PDC reveal their calendar for 2024 with more than 170 days of darts planned for next year, including a first visit to Switzerland on the European Tour.

The world’s top stars will head to Basel in late September 2024 as the European Tour breaks new ground, whilst a big change to the calendar will see all 30 Players Championship events held on midweek dates.

Check out the 2024 PDC calendar in full here.

Away from the PDC, it was a stacked weekend of darts in Bridlington at the weekend as the British Open and British Classic took place in Bridlington.

Ahead of the double-header of silver-graded WDF events, the England International Trials took place on Friday with Cam Crabtree, Eddie Lovely and Paige Pauling all winning through to secure spots in the England team for 2024.

England Darts International Trials

Luke Littler once again showcased his immense talent as he won both the Bull’s British Open and Classic men’s titles. ‘The Nuke’ averaged 105 as he whitewashed Carl Wilkinson 5-0 in the Classic final, before completing the double with a 5-2 win over Peter Jacques in the final of the Open.

The two ladies events were shared around as Deta Hedman added another title to her collection, beating Aletta Wajer 5-2 in the Classic final, whilst Eve Watson opened her account with a first WDF tournament victory after seeing off Pauling 5-1 in the Open decider.

Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts.

Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.

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