At the end of sixteen days top quality darts action, it was Dutch star Michael Van Gerwen who emerged on top, defeating Michael Smith 6-3 in the final at Alexandra Palace in London.

Last season’s event saw a major surprise as Rob Cross won the tournament at his first attempt, defeating the legendary Phil Taylor in the final, but 2019 represented the return of the elite of the professional darts establishment as Van Gerwen recorded his third World Title triumph, having previously won the competition in 2014 and 2017.

Van Gerwen had struggled at times during the 2018 season, but he went into the competition as top seed, and favourite according to the implied probabilities on the bigbetbookmakers.com site and he was dominant throughout. He dropped just five sets in five matches on his way to the final, thrashing Gary Anderson 6-1 in the semi-final. Tenth seed Smith had also been in impressive form, beating Luke Humphries 5-1 in the quarter-final and beating Nathan Aspinall 6-3 in the semis.

The final itself was notable for being one of the most youthful ever. It was the first time since 1983 that both players in a World Championship final had been under thirty. But it was the former World Champion who set the piece throughout, twice opening up four-set leads.

The tone was set with a spectacular early 129 checkout from Van Gerwen, finishing on the bullseye, and the Dutchman eventually won the deciding leg to take the opening set. And there were more fireworks from Van Gerwen in the second, as he pulled off a superb 126 checkout on his way to making it 2-0. Two sets later, it was 4-0 and Smith was facing a potential whitewash.

But Smith, a rising star of the PDC, was not beaten. He showed tremendous character in the fifth set with a remarkable 124 to clinch the deciding leg to make it 4-1. The confidence gained from winning the fifth carried over into the sixth, as he swept it without losing a leg to make it 4-2. At this point, the Alexandra Palace crowd were sensing what would be a famous comeback.

Van Gerwen had other ideas. He opened the seventh set in determined fashion, and never looked in danger as he opened up a 5-2 lead, then cruised through the eighth to put himself on the brink of victory. To his credit, Smith kept battling to the end, winning a tough ninth set to keep his hopes alive, but Van Gerwen was in no mood to let the trophy slip from his grasp, and in a tense final leg of the tenth set, he hit double 16 with his third match-dart to claim the Sid Waddell Trophy.

The Dutchman is likely to start as favourite for next year’s World Championship, but Smith has shown he is a force to be reckoned with and is sure to back with a strong challenge in 2020.

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