Smashed to Smithereens
Mighty Mike blows away rival to hit glory treble of world title triumphs
I was nervous and full of adrenalin VAN GERWEN
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN joined an elite club by winning a third world title – and immediately promised himself a holiday.
The Dutch destroyer last night secured the Sid Waddell Trophy with a 7-3 win over Michael Smith at the Alexandra Palace.
Van Gerwen put the seal on a dominant championship by controlling the showpiece and nailing a hat-trick to join John Part, John Lowe and Martin Adams as a treble winner.
He said: “This is the best feeling you can have. Everyone knows I’ve had a tough year and not performed how I could have done at times.
“But this at the end of the year makes it worthwhile. There is nothing higher, apart from family. It’s insane. It means so much.
“I was a little bit nervous, my body was pumping with adrenalin and I wanted to play better than I did. But Michael is a phenomenal player and it was tough.
“We all know one day Michael will win this trophy because he has so much talent in his body it is unreal – but I stopped him. It doesn’t matter how you win as long as you win.”
Van Gerwen is the seventh man to win at least three world titles and now two away from matching Raymond van Barneveld as Holland’s most successful player with five.
And MVG added: “No one is in doubt I’ll get the amount of titles but the pressure was on me and three-time world champion sounds good. I work all year for this and I think I’m due a holiday.”
Van Gerwen barely had a moment of worry as he stormed into the ascendancy from the outset. With Smith missing 14 out of 20 shots at double in the first four sets the Dutchman was able to ease into a 4-0 lead.
Smith, dubbed “Bully Boy”, broke to win the fifth and dodge a whitewash before having chances to pile on the pressure after taking the sixth to reduce the lead to 4-2.
But van Gerwen stayed solid and got through the remaining stages without alarm.
“I kept saying, ‘Make him work for it.’ I kept missing and I dropped off when he did. I’m gutted. I’m so annoyed with myself.
“I kept looking at the trophy and thinking it was mine – I think that made me try too hard. It was my first final and I guarantee you it won’t be my last. I will lift that trophy one day.”
Smith said: “I just couldn’t get going yet I still had chances. I lost 7-3 yet if I’d taken my chances it would have been 5-5 and would still have gone on.