World Darts Championship: Michael van Gerwen says ‘nobody can stop him’ ahead of Michael Smith final | Darts News

Michael van Gerwen beat Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-0 to make the final with Michael Smith, who beat Gabriel Clemens 6-2; Watch the World Darts Championship final on Tuesday at 7.45pm on Sky Sports Darts

Michael van Gerwen insists “nothing will stop him” in his quest for a fourth World Darts Championship title after a dominant semi-final victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Van Gerwen averaged 108.28 in a 6-0 thrashing of Belgium at Alexandra Palace, setting up a blockbuster clash against fourth seed Michael Smith in a repeat of the 2019 final.

The Dutchman will be making his sixth appearance in the final and first since beating Smith 7-3 in 2019, with Van Gerwen confident of further success against the Grand Slam champion.

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There was no stopping Michael van Gerwen after beating Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-0 to set up a huge showdown with Michael Smith in the final of the World Darts Championship.

“They won’t stop me – nothing will stop me!” Van Gerwen told Sky Sports. “I feel very good. I feel comfortable, I feel good and I play good darts.

“It felt phenomenal to play the game I played tonight [against Van den Bergh]. It means a lot to me, I give everything and I roll out of my skin at the moment. It costs a lot of energy, but I can do it.

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Michael Smith takes on Michael van Gerwen in the final of the World Darts Championship 2022. Who will top the list of winners?

“I think the crowd deserves a final like this. I’m against Michael Smith in the final I’m good for darts.”

Van den Bergh exchanged words with the former world No. 1 during the third set of his convincing victory, with the Belgian apparently not happy where his opponent was, although Van Gerwen immediately responded by landing a 170 finish in the same leg.

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Dimtri Van den Bergh was not happy with Michael van Gerwen’s position when he threw the dart.

“I don’t know what the problem is, but you have to concentrate on your own game and what you are doing,” Van Gerwen said. “Games can be tense but you have to focus on yourself and that’s exactly what I did. He probably said I was overstepping but he lost the game so he had to say something!”

Smith: “The winning mentality has come into my game”

Smith believes he has found a “winning mentality” in the game as he looks to get third time lucky and claim the elusive World Darts Championship.

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Michael Smith spoke of his preparations on Tuesday after booking his place in the World Darts Championship final

The Englishman was defeated by Van Gerwen in 2019 and lost 7-5 in last year’s climax against Peter Wright, although he has another chance to become the next darts world champion after a successful 6-2 semi-final victory over Gabriel Clemens.

‘Bully Boy’ averaged an impressive 101.85 in a stunning display, which included 19 maximums and five ton-plus checkouts, with the 32-year-old now just a win away from Van Gerwen away from the biggest title of his career and rising to the top of the world rankings .

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Michael Smith performed well during the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship with Gabriel Clemens, hitting five ton-plus checkouts in the match.

“Michael is the favorite and he’s been playing well, but everyone can have bad days and hopefully that will come tomorrow. [Tuesday],” Smith said.

“If I get the arrow to win the world, if I miss, I miss, if I hit, I am the World Champion. I will not think about it and I will continue to come back to fight every year. I go up when I have to and I hope tomorrow [Tuesday] I will go up again.

Smith added: “I just have to play my game. I played Michael in the US Masters and won there, I played Michael in the ProTour event and won there, but he has beaten me too so nobody has a 100 percent record. This is the world final , not the first round of the ProTour event in Barnsley or in Wigan! I have to put pressure on him.”

The Englishman has impressed throughout the past 12 months, enjoying success at the US Darts Masters, the Netherlands Darts Championship and three Players Championship titles before claiming his first television ranking title at the ninth attempt with victory at the Grand Slam of Darts in November.

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Michael Smith booked his place in the final of the World Darts Championship with a 6-2 win over Gabriel Clemens

“I think I’ve had this confidence since I started playing, but [winning the Grand Slam of Darts] has given me something extra!” Smith added. “It finally put me one out of nine [TV titles] and has given me confidence that I will win.

“The winning feeling and the winning mentality finally came to my game. I’m not going to be ashamed – I didn’t play well in this event. I’ve had some good games, I’ve played well. tonight but I found a way to win and that’s what I did champions – they find a way to win.”

Van Gerwen vs Smith: The greatest final ever?

Smith and Van Gerwen could both end Tuesday’s final as world No 1, with Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle backing the Briton to give the three-time world champion a tougher challenge than he did four years ago.

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Michael Smith takes on Michael van Gerwen in the final of the World Darts Championship 2022. Who will top the list of winners?

“Yes [Smith] is a better player than 2019,” said Mardle. “I believe that. He is now a major champion and champions find a way. The way he went through some of those games was fantastic.

“Yes [Smith] has been in many positions and now he is at the top and this is his chance to become World Champion. I think with the way the two have calculated this evening, tomorrow [Tuesday] it could be a double competition.

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Both Dimitri Van den Bergh and Michael Van Gerwen defeated ‘The Big Fish’ in the semifinals of the World Darts Championship.

“If you take Michael Smith from Joe Cullen win and win tonight, that can disturb Van Gerwen but you have to choose the time. The time has to be right. I thought there were two (who could stop Van Gerwen) at the beginning. I thought there was Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith and one of them in the final.

“The irony of it all, Michael Smith has waited all this time for the final and then won two on the bounce. I think it could be one of the best finals, fingers crossed, we’ve ever seen.”

Who will win the PDC World Darts Championship? Watch the final live on Tuesday at 7.45pm on Sky Sports Darts!