MICHAEL Van Gerwen showed why he is the No 1 darts player in the world.
The Dutch man eased into the semi-finals with a comfortable 5-1 win over Derry’s Daryl Gurney – the last man to beat him in any competition.
Van Gerwen looked in the mood for a short night’s work from the first set, checking out in 101, 92 and 170 to take it 3-0 in just 4min 5sec and a total of 36 darts.
Although Gurney, the world No.24 from Northern Ireland, briefly threatened to make a fight of it by taking the second set, it was only delaying the inevitable.
Van Gerwen averaged 103.08, and decorated his victory with a second 170 checkout.
But the odds-on favourite to win the William Hill PDC world championship rarely needed to turn on the afterburners as Gurney landed eight 180 maximums only to come up short on the doubles.
Van Gerwen has won 25 tournaments in 2016, but he would regard his year’s work as a failure if he doesn’t land a second world title at Ally Pally.
He said: “It was quite comfortable to be fair – you have to make sure you don’t give Daryl any breathing space.
“I put myself under pressure to perform well here and I won’t be celebrating on New Year’s Eve because I won’t have anything to celebrate unless I win the final here on January 2.”
