MICHAEL VAN GERWEN defended his Shanghai Darts Masters title in style as he whitewashed Dave Chisnall in the final of the second World Series event of 2017.

The Pullman Hotel Shanghai South hosted the event for a second year and world number one Van Gerwen did not disappoint in the final. The decider began with the Dutchman pinning double 12 for for a comfortable opening leg hold, before a fourteen-dart break set the tone for the rest of the match.

A first maximum for Van Gerwen followed as he moved in to a 3-0 lead, then taking out 65 on double four to open up a four leg gap. The 28-year-old went in to the break with a 6-0 advantage courtesy of a simple hold of throw and then a 12-dart break, taking out 84 on double 12.

The World Champion only allowed Dave Chinsall a single shot at the bull in the entire match and sealed the win in style, checking out 114 to confirm the victory with a 102.77 average. Chisnall’s defeat saw him lose out to Van Gerwen in a second World Series of Darts final, following his reverse in Perth last August, and he has now not defeated the Dutchman for almost 18 months.

The day had not started so comfortably for Van Gerwen though, with the defending champion trailing Phil Taylor 5-0 in the quarter-final. An incredible fightback followed as Van Gerwen won eight of the last ten legs including five maximums and a 106 checkout to stun Taylor.

The semi-final also began slowly for Van Gerwen, as James Wade, who had earlier defeated Peter Wright 8-5, raced in to a 2-0 lead. This was the prompt for the Dutchman to turn on the afterburners with finishes of 130 and 143 putting him in to a commanding position before going on to seal an 8-3 victory.

Wade, who was runner-up to the World Champion in Shanghai last year was unable to cope with Van Gerwen’s scoring power and consistency on the double attempts as a place in the final was sealed. Dave Chisnall, who was making his 7th appearance in a televised final had earlier faced Gerwyn Price in the last eight where an average of 103.37 was enough to earn him an 8-4 win.

Raymond van Barneveld was Chisnall’s opponent in the semi-final, where five maximums helped secure the 36-year-old another 8-4 win and a spot in the final. It was to be Van Gerwen’s day though, as the world number one took home the ¥300,000 prize and a ninth World Series of Darts title.

The World Series returns on July 14-15 as the world’s best players head to Las Vegas for the U.S Darts Masters at the Tropicana Hotel.

Coverage on ITV4 in the UK will be shown from 9pm BST on Thursday and Friday.

2017 Shanghai Masters ‘World Series’

Schedule of Play

Thursday July 6th (6.30pm local time)

First Round (11)
(94.07) Gerwyn Price 6-2 Royden Lam (83.80)
(83.50) Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Cheng An Liu (69.14)
(81.24) James Wade 6-0 Xiao Chen Zong (66.94)
(104.21) Phil Taylor 6-1 Hyun Chul Park (76.70)
(97.43) Dave Chisnall 6-1 Paul Lim (89.76)
(106.09) Peter Wright 6-0 Haruki Muramatsu (82.81)
(114.23) Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Hai Long Chen (64.20)
(108.65) Gary Anderson 6-0 Wei Hong Li (75.54)

Friday July 7th (6.30pm local time)

Quarter-Finals (15)
Gary Anderson 1-8 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 4-8 Dave Chisnall
Michael van Gerwen 8-7 Phil Taylor
Peter Wright 5-8 James Wade

Semi-Finals (15)
Raymond van Barneveld 4-8 Dave Chisnall
Michael van Gerwen 8-3 James Wade

Final (15)
Michael van Gerwen 8-0 Dave Chisnall