US Masters ‘World Series’
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN claimed a second World Series of Darts title in the space of a week after beating debutant Daryl Gurney 8-6 in the final of the U.S. Darts Masters at the Tropicana Hotel, Las Vegas.
Van Gerwen, who had lost just one leg in his previous three matches began the final in a similar fashion, taking an early 2-0 lead, including an opening leg 124 checkout.
Gurney, as with his semi-final with Anderson then put together a sequence of four consecutive legs to move back in to contention. This seemed to kick-start Van Gerwen who eventually levelled the match in the tenth leg.
Van Gerwen who spoke of his delight of winning the tournament eventually ran out an 8-6 winner. Van Gerwen began the day with an 8-1 victory over Dave Richardson, with the world number one averaging 95.70 and hitting two maximums.
The Dutchman was in an even more ruthless mood in the semi-finals, beating Gerwyn Price 8-0 in front of a noisy Tropicana crowd. Van Gerwen averaged over 100 in his semi-final clash with the Welshman, who struggled to cope with the scoring power of the World Champion, as he set up a deciding match with Daryl Gurney.
Gurney, making his first appearance in a World Series event, faced world number three Peter Wright in the last eight, where he needed a deciding last leg to book his passage in to the final. The match went with throw until the ninth leg, where Wright looked to have stolen the initiative by breaking throw.
Gurney stuck with his opponent and broke back in the 12th leg to level the score at 6-6. The pair then traded holds to take the match to a decisive leg, where Gurney found double 16 to secure a semi-final spot against Gary Anderson.
Gurney, started the last four showdown slowly, with Anderson racing in to a 4-1 lead. With the match seemingly going Anderson’s way, the Northern-Irishman produced a stunning run of seven straight legs to claim a spot in his first ever World Series final.
Despite Gurney’s best efforts the world number one proved too strong in the final, as he claimed a tenth World Series of Darts title. The Norther-Irishman also spoke of his ambitions for the future.
The World Series returns in August, with the world’s best players heading to New Zealand and Australia for the Auckland, Melbourne and Perth Darts Masters.
Friday July 14th (12pm local time, 8pm BST)
First Round (11)
(98.58) Daryl Gurney 6-2 Dennis Sayre (83.20)
(85.04) Gerwyn Price 6-4 Willard Bruguier (80.07)
(92.01) Dave Richardson 6-3 Max Hopp (89.67)
(88.80) Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 David Cameron (85.64)
(81.27) Dawson Murschell 6-5 James Wade (86.72)
(86.51) Peter Wright 6-3 Shawn Brenneman (85.92)
(104.86) Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Chris White (91.22)
(102.48) Gary Anderson 6-0 Jayson Barlow (78.72)
Saturday July 15th (12pm local time, 8pm BST)
Quarter-Finals (15)
(92.00) Gerwyn Price 8-4 Dawson Murschell (90.06)
(95.70) Michael van Gerwen 8-1 Dave Richardson (88.67)
(99.32) Gary Anderson 8-4 Raymond van Barneveld (98.84)
(97.81) Daryl Gurney 8-7 Peter Wright (97.28)
Semi-Finals (15)
(101.04) Michael van Gerwen 8-0 Gerwyn Price (88.58)
(101.89) Daryl Gurney 8-4 Gary Anderson (103.81)
Final (15)
(101.35) Michael van Gerwen 8-6 Daryl Gurney (96.08)
partypoker U.S. Darts Masters
Winner $25,000
Runner-Up $12,500
Semi-Finalists $6,250
Quarter-Finalists $3,125
First Round Losers $1,500
Total $74,500