Michael van Gerwen beats Josh Rock in Players Championship 7 final to win first ranking title of 2023
Michael van Gerwen scooped the £12,000 top prize as he claimed a first Players Championship win since April last year; the Dutchman defeated reigning World Youth Champion Josh Rock 8-4 in the final
Sunday 19 March 2023 21:40, UK
Michael van Gerwen picked up his first ranking title of 2023 by defeating Josh Rock 8-4 in Sunday's Players Championship 7 final in Hildesheim.
World No 3 Van Gerwen began the ProTour double-header in Germany by scooping the £12,000 top prize for a first Players Championship win since April last year.
Other than at the UK Open a fortnight ago, where Van Gerwen finished as runner-up, he had not progressed past the quarter-finals in a ranking event this year.
The 33-year-old - the winner of three Cazoo Premier League nights so far in 2023 - defeated World Youth Champion Rock in the final to claim his first ranking triumph of the year.
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"I had to work very hard," admitted Van Gerwen. "I have six gears but I won it in fourth gear today.
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"I wasn't playing well most of the day, but the games where I had to play well - to beat Dirk [van Duijvenbode 6-4] in the quarter-finals I played really well there, and against Josh in the final - I did it.
"That gives you confidence and gives you pleasure but I wasn't great today. Of course I want to play better but I did it whenever I had to do."
Van Gerwen breezed past Jacques Labre, Keegan Brown, Martin Lukeman and Boris Krcmar for the loss of just seven legs to book his spot in the quarter-finals.
There, he produced his highest average of the day at 104.95 in a superb 6-4 win over Dutch rival Van Duijvenbode, before seeing off another former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks by a two-leg margin in the semi-finals.
In the final, reigning youth champion Rock took the opening leg before Van Gerwen won five of the next six to move 5-2 up.
Rock cut the gap to 5-4, but legs of 11 and 12 darts from the Dutchman pushed him further clear at 7-4 before he closed out the title.
Van Gerwen added: "They're long days, very long days. At this stage in my life, every tournament I compete in I want to win and it gets harder.
"If you look at the floor tournaments nowadays, there's no easy games any more, so I have to battle for every game, but overall I'm pleased with my win and that's really important.
"A lot has changed, everyone can play a 100 average - that's how good the tour is at the moment - so that's why you need to get focused."
It was runner-up Rock's best run in a ranking event this year too by reaching the final, as the Northern Irishman sought to emulate his Players Championship 28 win of 2022.
The youngster produced three ton-plus averages on the day - against Luke Woodhouse, Brendan Dolan and Mario Vandenbogaerde - and saw off Premier League star Dimitri Van den Bergh and Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
