Van Gerwen earns a third win in a row

MICHAEL van Gerwen is seeking further glory after earning his third successive Premier League Darts victory with a 6-4 win over Nathan Aspinall on Thursday night, writes Rebecca Johnson.

The Dutchman beat Gerwyn Price and teenager Luke Littler to secure a spot in the final, where the seven-time Premier League champion, pictured, came from behind to beat Aspinall.

Aspinall started brightly, taking two successive legs from the start, but was left to rue missed doubles which had troubled him throughout the evening as Van Gerwen hit a ten-dart break on his way to leading 5-2.

Although Van Gerwen needed one leg to win, Aspinall clawed his way back and nearly took him to a decider in the tenth leg, but missed double 16.

The Dutchman then made no mistake finding double 18 to wrap up victory and hopes to put himself in a comfortable position in the upcoming weeks.

He told reporters: “I think it was really big of course to win another Premier League night, it’s hard. I think I had a tough draw tonight, to win the first game against Gezzy (Price) then Luke Littler then of course Nathan Aspinall in the final, it wasn’t easy, but of course you still have to do it. Then to make it actually happen is always a great feeling.

“Of course you want to make yourself comfortable as possible, but I think with this win I can look forward next week but that’s what I want to do.

“I want to make sure I put myself in a comfortable position, make sure I do the damage again and make sure I get more points, that’s the only thing I can do.”

After defeating Price in the quarter-finals, Van Gerwen edged to the final with a 6-5 victory against Littler in the final four.

The teenager beat Peter Wright 6-5 in the quarter-finals in a close encounter that went the distance to set up a final-four clash against the world number two, where Littler piled on the pressure.

Van Gerwen missed six match darts allowing “the Nuke” to take it to a decider, but the Dutchman kept his composure in the final leg, hitting two doubles 18s to close it out.

He now leads the standings by eight points and believes he has a different mindset in his approach this year.

“When you play the best players you have to play the best game, you have to perform and have to win,” he added.