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Van Gerwen beats Humphries to earn second Premier League win in row

Dimitri van Tuijl
Van Gerwen was victorious in Glasgow
Van Gerwen was victorious in GlasgowTaylor Lanning/PDC
Michael van Gerwen won the third day of the Premier League in Glasgow on Thursday night, beating Luke Humphries 6-5 in the final.

Van Gerwen also won in Berlin last week and is now comfortably leading in the standings.

Elsewhere, Luke Littler was downed by Gerwyn Price in a dramatic encounter, and Peter Wright's struggles continued.

Catch up on all the action from Thursday night's BetMGM Premier League action:

Final

Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Luke Humphries

Van Gerwen and Humphries shot from the start and after 12 arrows Van Gerwen had 12 left, but he missed double 6. Humphries took advantage by throwing double 10 to break even. Van Gerwen took the rebreak and did so handsomely. 98 was thrown out via double 19 double 20.

Van Gerwen started the third leg with the first 180 and followed with 134. Two pudding turns put the leg in danger, but Humphries failed to hit both chances on double 1. Via tops, it became 2-1 for the Dutchman. Humphries threw his first 180 at a good time as he left 65.

He did miss two arrows and so Van Gerwen had a small chance at 136, but that was too much. Double 5 did go out and so it became 2-2.

The Englishman threw his second 180 in the fifth leg and first to a finish. He got six darts for 136 but did not throw out. Van Gerwen did have 150 left and that did not go out.

Tops did for Humphries and so came another break: 3-2. He opened with 180 and 140 and had no problems in his own leg. In ten darts the leg went out for a 4-2 lead.

Humphries gives away lead

The answer had to come from the Dutchman, but double 6 went wrong three times again. Humphries had a chance at the break but missed. Van Gerwen again missed three darts on 12, but he was allowed to come back again due to misses by Humphries. Double 1 did hit and so it was 4-3.

Van Gerwen almost grabbed the break via 141 but missed double 12. Humphries did not finish 0 and Van Gerwen took the break via double 12: 4-4.

Van Gerwen threw 180 at a perfect moment and left 65. That went out in two darts and so it was 5-4. Humphries threw out 121 and so the match went to a deciding leg. Van Gerwen threw 180 in that and thus got match darts. 56 went out in two darts via tops and so the Dutchman won 6-5.

Semi-final

Luke Humphries 6-3 Gerwyn Price

Humphries threw a maximum score right away in the first leg and eventually threw out double 16 for a 1-0 lead. In the second leg, the Englishman got one arrow on the break with bullseye but missed it.

Price still had 95 standing and threw it handsomely via tops to level the score. Price got a break chance from 131 through two shots, but did not hit. Humphries had 120 left, but also failed to throw out. 91 then stood for Price. He had to throw bullseye but missed. 

Humphries didn't throw 32 out, but Price didn't throw 50 either. Those were costly misses as Humphries hit double 2 and kept his leg: 2-1. Price had no trouble in his leg and threw out tops for 2-2.

Humphries again struggled in his own leg, but 90 went out handsomely via tops making it 'just' 3-2. Humphries grabbed the first break as 50 went out in two arrows via 18 and double 16.

Lots of breaks in the end

Humphries failed to throw out 116 and so Price had two darts at the break from 48 and exploited them by throwing out tops to make it 4-3 again. Humphries opened with a 180 in Price's leg, but he replied by throwing the same. The Englishman had 121 left and only just missed throwing double 14.

Price did not stay inside the boxes with 92 and so Humphries was allowed to come back for double 7, which he threw for another break: 5-3. Humphries then threw a good leg and won by throwing out double 8: 6-3.

Statistics Humphries-Price
Statistics Humphries-PricePDC

Rob Cross 4-6 Michael Van Gerwen

Cross and Van Gerwen started poorly scoring, but Cross kept his leg by throwing 50. Van Gerwen threw the first 180 in his leg. Van Gerwen had 72 left and threw it out via tops for 1-1. Cross had to throw out 72 in his leg as Van Gerwen waited for 68. Both failed to throw out and so Cross had new chances on double 8.

Cross finally hit double 2 to make it 2-1. Van Gerwen and Cross both threw 180 in the fourth leg and that meant Van Gerwen could throw a ten darter and he did so via double 18: 2-2. Cross had 92 left and Van Gerwen 56.

Cross did not finish and so Van Gerwen got break darts and hit them: 3-2. So the first tap was dealt. Van Gerwen opened with four triples in the first two innings and kept the initiative in his leg. Van Gerwen eventually threw out 25 in two arrows to make it 4-2.

Cross had 32 left and that had to go out as Van Gerwen waited for 34. That also went out and so it was 4-3. Both men then kept their leg and so Van Gerwen was able to throw out the match himself in the tenth leg. Van Gerwen did not fail and threw out 88 via the bullseye.

Statistics Cross-Van Gerwen
Statistics Cross-Van GerwenPDC

Quarter-finals

Rob Cross 6-4 Michael Smith

It was a rough start in Glasgow. Rob Cross took the lead in Michael Smith's leg. Both had 146 left, but Cross started. Neither threw it out. Cross grabbed the break with 90 over and did so handsomely by throwing double 18 twice.

The first 180 came to Smith's name, but Cross replied with the same score. Cross eventually had 68 left and threw out on a double 8: 2-0. Smith was totally out of it, as he did not throw a triple for the first two innings in the third leg either. 

Smith fought his way back by throwing his second 180, leaving 24. Cross failed to throw 112 and so Smith was given three darts, but they all went wrong. Cross had 51 left but missed two chances at double 16. Double 12 now went out for Bullyboy and so it was 2-1.

It became 3-1 as Cross had no trouble with his own leg. Via double 10 he finished it off.

Cross slightly better in bad match

He opened with a 180 in Smith's leg. After nine arrows only 42 were left and that eventually went out in two arrows and so Cross threw an eleven darter. With that, he grabbed a double break and moved to 4-1.

The difference in averages was huge. Cross threw over 93 and Smith only 79. Cross had to throw 104 to keep his own leg but missed double 16. That was the double Smith needed to hit as well, but he missed three times. 32 was also too much for Cross and so Smith took the rebreak: 4-2.

Smith started throwing better and moved to 4-3 via tops. Cross had 116 left and Smith 108. Cross was allowed to start and threw out on double 18 in his own leg and so was on match point: 5-3. Smith replied with a strong leg, where he threw 140 and 180 and edged out 86 for 5-4. Cross needed to keep his own leg for the match but did not hit any triples in the first three innings.

He recovered with a 180, but Smith had already run away. Cross had a small chance from 144, but he took it while Smith waited for 67. Two times triple 18 and double 18 went in for the match: 6-4.

Statistics Cross-Smith
Statistics Cross-SmithPDC

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Peter Wright

Van Gerwen started very well, despite Wright throwing the first 180 of the match. Tops went out in the 13th arrow to make it 1-0. Wright also threw 180 in the second leg, leaving 140 but failing to throw out double 10.

Van Gerwen was still far off though and so it was 1-1 via double 10. Van Gerwen wasted his leg and gave Wright the chance from 51, but Wright missed double 16 twice and so the Dutchman came back on 60. That went out via double 10 and so it was 2-1. Wright had to throw out 118 to keep his leg, but missed tops.

Van Gerwen had 72 left and threw it out on tops. Wright had chances to break back on 110 but missed the double 16 again. Van Gerwen had tops left and threw it out again to make it 4-1.

Van Gerwen wins by misses Wright

Wright managed to make it very difficult for himself in the sixth leg. Van Gerwen was still well over 300 and Wright had already missed nine darts on the double, so Van Gerwen could still finish on double 12. He did, making it 5-1.

Wright again needed a lot of darts to finish the match, but double 5 made it 5-2 and the Scot had a break. Van Gerwen threw another 180 and went to a 136 finish, which he threw out. That made it 6-2.

Statistics Van Gerwen-Wright
Statistics Van Gerwen-WrightPDC

Nathan Aspinall 3-6 Luke Humphries

Aspinall opened with a 140 and 180 and also threw a ton-plus finish right away. 100 was left for Aspinall and that went out in three arrows via double 10. Humphries opened with 140 and 180, but Aspinall threw two 180s. He could have thrown a nine-darter but only missed double 12. Humphries had 41 left and even just took the leg via double 16: 1-1.

Humphries also needed only 11 darts. It was a very high-level pot, as Humphries threw 180 in Aspinall's leg, but The Asp threw 171. Double 4 was over, but it didn't hit. He came back for an eventual double 1 and it did go out: 2-1. He continued to throw well by throwing 140 twice and leaving 87 over.

He had two chances at the break and threw the 3-1 via double 9. Humphries almost threw the big fish for the break, but only missed the bullseye. Humphries came back for 25 and threw it out in two darts for the rebreak: 3-2. Humphries left 36 by throwing 171 but missed.

Aspinall had 74 left for the break. He got two darts on double 16 but missed. Humphries did throw out double 9 to make it 3-3.

Aspinall lost it

Aspinall then suddenly lost it and showed nothing in his own leg. Humphries threw out 64 and took the break. He completely lost it and Humphries had a taste for it with 36 left after nine arrows. In 11 darts the leg went out and it was 5-3. Humphries won the match by throwing out 105 to give Aspinall away completely: 6-3.

Statistics Aspinall-Humphries
Statistics Aspinall-HumphriesPDC

Gerwyn Price 6-5 Luke Littler

Price started his own leg well and left 80 out. That didn't go out in 15 arrows, but he missed tops. Littler was able to take a thump with 132, but he missed the bullseye. Price did throw out 40 and let the crowd know it. Littler threw the first 180 of the match and Price followed suit. 88 went out for Littler via double 7 and so it was tied again.

Littler threw his second maximum in the third leg, but Price again replied with a maximum. 121 did not go out for his own leg and so the Englishman had the chance for the break and he took it on tops. He then also opened with a 180. 72 remained, but that did not go out and so Price took the rebreak on double 12.

The Iceman also threw 180 in the fifth leg, leaving 40. That didn't go in and Littler had 170 left. Only the bullseye did not go out and so Price was allowed to come back, but missed three times double 5. Littler threw out 25 and took the break again: 3-2.

Price did open with two 180s, allowing him to go in for the ninth darter, but he too missed only double 12. Price then missed three times double 6 and so Littler had a chance on 110, but missed tops. Double 6 was hit and the match was level again: 3-3.

Exciting match

Price threw his sixth 180 in the seventh leg, but it was not enough for the leg. Twice triple 19 and double 12 went out for a 138 finish for Littler and so there was another break: 4-3. Price also grabbed another break as tops went out and so it was 4-4.

Six breaks in a row. Price did take his own leg now, as 79 went out via tops and so it became match point. Littler had 114 left, Price 74. Littler did not throw out and so Price got a match dart, but tops did not hit. A 57 did go out for Littler and so it became 5-5. Littler opened with five times triple 20, but Price also started well.

Price 126 over and looked for four times 19. He had three but the second dart ricocheted off the board. 96 went wrong for Littler and so Price had match darts and he didn't miss: 6-5 for Price.

Statistics Price-Littler
Statistics Price-LittlerPDC