Michael Smith will take on Michael van Gerwen in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday night.
The Alexandra Palace will play host to a mouth-watering decider with two of the highest-scorers in the sport going head-to-head.
Three-time champion van Gerwen was at his ruthless best against Dimitri Van den Bergh in Monday’s semi-final clash as he easily overcame the Belgian No.1 without dropping a single set.
‘The Dream-Maker’ took out a 170 in the opening set to go 2-1 ahead, but van Gerwen ominously recovered to win the next two legs and take a 1-0 lead.
The Dutch native then swiftly claimed the next two sets which left his opponent with an unenviable task.
Despite his protestations about van Gerwen encroaching on him when he was throwing, 2020 World Matchplay champion Van den Bergh could only watch on as ‘The Green Machine’ effortlessly and clinically dismantled him to deservedly win 6-0 and advance to the decider.
Michael Smith is the only man that stands in van Gerwen’s way of a first world title in four years after he brilliantly defeated Gabriel Clemens in the opening last-four tie.
Both players exchanged the first four sets and could not be separated for large portions of the affair before the Englishman crucially broke Clemens’s throw in the fifth set by brilliantly hitting the bullseye to take a 3-2 lead.
He did not look back from that point onwards as he reeled off the next three sets to seal a 6-2 win and a place in the final.
Although van Gerwen will be the firm favourite to repeat his success in 2019 when he defeated Smith in the final, the Grand Slam champion will be hopeful that he can win his second major title of the year by reaching his highest level, something that we have arguably not seen for the duration of this edition of the World Championships.
It promises to be a an ‘Ally Pally’ classic with the game set to begin at 8pm tonight.
