Wright's Nerves of Steel Defeat MvG
Peter Wright left Rotterdam orange crushed with a nerves of steel win over Michael van Gerwen.
Snakebite kept his cool to outgun MVG and silence the home fans to claim a crucial 7-5 victory last night.
He said: “To be honest when people are on my back it inspires me. You don’t want to miss and I didn’t.
“I’ve gone back to my old flights, I’ve been told by the boss - my wife - and everyone else on Twitter, get back to the old flights.
“I’ve got to stick with them but I hate playing, I get bored easy. But that’s what I can do. If I stick with this set of darts and the right set-up I can beat anybody.
“I thought I’d let him comeback and get the crowd involved, give him a few legs and just take it!"
Gary Anderson took a massive step towards qualifying for the Premier League Play-Offs with Double Dutch wins. The Flying Scotsman beat Michael Smith and Rob Cross in front of a 11,000 sell-out sea of orange in Rotterdam. It cements Ando’s place in the top four and he admitted: “The 180s, 140s and tons were back and the checkouts were good. It was a lot better than what it has been. “A good average helps. If you have an 89 that’s not going to be so good. Two points at this stage is massive. Michael has been playing well, that was a good scalp tonight. “If you look about and see the orange but I spotted a Scotland flag. Last year I played Raymond van Barneveld here and the support he got was fantastic.”
Daryl Gurney admitted “it just didn’t happen” for him as his Unibet Premier League semi-final hopes were hit. World Champion Rob Cross roared into a 5-0 win over a strangely sluggish Derry ace before completing a 7-4 victory in the Ahoy Arena. Superchin, 32, rallied late on in their clash to claim four legs but it was a massive setback to his hopes of making the play-offs in London next month. Gurney said: “It just didn’t happen for me tonight. The atmosphere and the fans was out of this world but I couldn’t get going. “Rob started brilliantly so I was chasing the game and losing my first throw set me back and I never recovered. You can’t give a player like Rob a five-nil start.” The win for Cross cemented his place in the play-off places but he felt it was a “poor” game in a sea of orange Dutch fans. He added: “The early checkouts really did help me. It wasn’t the greatest game, I actually thought it was a bit poor but really glad just to get the win. “I felt we both struggled in fairness a couple of good finishes early on gave me the 5-0 cushion, which I needed in the end. It was enough to get over the line. It wasn’t like normal Daryl up there and not like me either. “The pressure on the last dart to win actually made me laugh. It was so noisy in here I thought my ears were going to pop. But thankfully the flight was good. I was just happy to get it in. “Last year I watched this on TV and to actually be here is incredible. This crowd were fantastic. I just didn’t realise how loud it was going to be. Probably the best crowd I’ve ever played in front of and seen.”
Raymond van Barneveld warmed up for his massive clash with Michael van Gerwen with a comfortable 7-3 win over Simon Whitlock. Barney said: “I’m struggling for the last four weeks, I lost three games on the spin. Tonight was really important to have a win now I can look forward to playing Michael tomorrow. “I still believe I can do it but I can’t make any mistakes. With a crowd like this you simply can’t give up. “When I was playing in the pub years ago I thought maybe I could be as good as Eric Bristow. Then you win your first world title but you could never dream of a crowd like this, everyone in orange giving me so much support like tonight. “It’s a help to play here, Simon is facing an away crowd. I feel sorry for Simon. These are the games you need to focus on and if you do your job winning 7-3 tonight, that means I still believe I can make the top four. “I was playing for the fans, they are the best ever. “I never watch the table, I don’t need to. I knew I couldn’t let the fans down, you never give in or drop your head down. “Tomorrow neither of Michael or me want this game, because we want the individual support not 50/50.” Whitlock admitted: “It was always going to be tough against Raymond in Rotterdam but he performed much better than me and deserved the win. “Now I have two matches tomorrow and I’m determined to produce much better. Usually you have to wait a week to playing again tomorrow is a massive positive.”
By Phil Lanning (@lannomedia) Photography courtesy of Lawrence Lustig / PDC
Gary Anderson took a massive step towards qualifying for the Premier League Play-Offs with Double Dutch wins. The Flying Scotsman beat Michael Smith and Rob Cross in front of a 11,000 sell-out sea of orange in Rotterdam. It cements Ando’s place in the top four and he admitted: “The 180s, 140s and tons were back and the checkouts were good. It was a lot better than what it has been. “A good average helps. If you have an 89 that’s not going to be so good. Two points at this stage is massive. Michael has been playing well, that was a good scalp tonight. “If you look about and see the orange but I spotted a Scotland flag. Last year I played Raymond van Barneveld here and the support he got was fantastic.”
Daryl Gurney admitted “it just didn’t happen” for him as his Unibet Premier League semi-final hopes were hit. World Champion Rob Cross roared into a 5-0 win over a strangely sluggish Derry ace before completing a 7-4 victory in the Ahoy Arena. Superchin, 32, rallied late on in their clash to claim four legs but it was a massive setback to his hopes of making the play-offs in London next month. Gurney said: “It just didn’t happen for me tonight. The atmosphere and the fans was out of this world but I couldn’t get going. “Rob started brilliantly so I was chasing the game and losing my first throw set me back and I never recovered. You can’t give a player like Rob a five-nil start.” The win for Cross cemented his place in the play-off places but he felt it was a “poor” game in a sea of orange Dutch fans. He added: “The early checkouts really did help me. It wasn’t the greatest game, I actually thought it was a bit poor but really glad just to get the win. “I felt we both struggled in fairness a couple of good finishes early on gave me the 5-0 cushion, which I needed in the end. It was enough to get over the line. It wasn’t like normal Daryl up there and not like me either. “The pressure on the last dart to win actually made me laugh. It was so noisy in here I thought my ears were going to pop. But thankfully the flight was good. I was just happy to get it in. “Last year I watched this on TV and to actually be here is incredible. This crowd were fantastic. I just didn’t realise how loud it was going to be. Probably the best crowd I’ve ever played in front of and seen.”
Raymond van Barneveld warmed up for his massive clash with Michael van Gerwen with a comfortable 7-3 win over Simon Whitlock. Barney said: “I’m struggling for the last four weeks, I lost three games on the spin. Tonight was really important to have a win now I can look forward to playing Michael tomorrow. “I still believe I can do it but I can’t make any mistakes. With a crowd like this you simply can’t give up. “When I was playing in the pub years ago I thought maybe I could be as good as Eric Bristow. Then you win your first world title but you could never dream of a crowd like this, everyone in orange giving me so much support like tonight. “It’s a help to play here, Simon is facing an away crowd. I feel sorry for Simon. These are the games you need to focus on and if you do your job winning 7-3 tonight, that means I still believe I can make the top four. “I was playing for the fans, they are the best ever. “I never watch the table, I don’t need to. I knew I couldn’t let the fans down, you never give in or drop your head down. “Tomorrow neither of Michael or me want this game, because we want the individual support not 50/50.” Whitlock admitted: “It was always going to be tough against Raymond in Rotterdam but he performed much better than me and deserved the win. “Now I have two matches tomorrow and I’m determined to produce much better. Usually you have to wait a week to playing again tomorrow is a massive positive.”
By Phil Lanning (@lannomedia) Photography courtesy of Lawrence Lustig / PDC