Michael Van Gerwen won at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on Night 4 of the 2024 Premier League of Darts, defeating Nathan Aspinall in the final. Daniel Wales reports.
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00:00 When the Premier League of darts arrive in Newcastle, there is always the guarantee of
00:07 a special atmosphere, and this occasion there was no exception, with Utilita Arena on the
00:13 banks of the Tyne preparing itself for a night of world class competition as some of the
00:18 globe's best darts players would demonstrate just why they are on the Premier League tour.
00:24 The spectator tables were ready and waiting for fans to bring the noise, with the player
00:29 walk on zone poised to welcome the stars on stage where they would compete on night four
00:36 of this year's PDC Premier League. On the concourse, fans were getting in the spirit
00:41 of the night, with two of them giving me their thoughts ahead of the action getting underway.
00:56 The atmosphere is always great at a dart and I think it should be a great night of darts.
00:59 I think there's a lot of good players there tonight so we'll see who's the winner at the end.
01:04 It'll be a tough one, I'd like to see, I think Littler and Michael Van Gerwen from the bottom
01:08 half of the draw and I think Michael Smith and maybe Luke Humphries from the top. I think
01:12 an overall winner, if I was to pick a player, Michael Van Gerwen.
01:17 Very exciting, first darts event, really, really good standard. Michael Van Gerwen,
01:21 Luke Littler, Gerwen Price, top of the game, really, really nice. I think it'll be really,
01:28 really close, last score in it and it goes across to us to win. Baswell got through for
01:34 the first time so I do think Van Gerwen, I think Van Gerwen's too strong for anybody in the minute.
01:39 With the arena full to bursting point, it was time to play some darts.
01:48 The quarter-finals were an intense affair, with all but one of the games going the full
01:52 distance in terms of legs. Nathan Aspinall, Rob Cross, Luke Littler and Michael Van Gerwen
01:57 progressed, with Gerwen Price and Luke Humphries most notably falling at the first hurdle.
02:03 Nathan Aspinall hadn't won in the Premier League up until this week and he managed to
02:09 reach the final, defeating Rob Cross in the semi-final. Darts' new sensation Luke Littler
02:15 came up against Michael Van Gerwen in the other semi and despite a valiant effort from
02:20 the 17-year-old Littler, the Dutchman came out on top. And it would be Van Gerwen who
02:26 took the win in the Toon as he then won against Nathan Aspinall, despite a 1.70 checkout from
02:32 the runner-up during the match. With the evening at an end, Van Gerwen was then on hand to
02:38 reflect on his triumph.
02:42 Any win is good, of course. Every week is something different, every venue is special,
02:48 but every week you play opponents in different kind of forms, so you need to adjust yourself.
02:55 For me, the only thing I feel comfortable with is, of course, I'm having a good run, but
03:00 it doesn't say anything yet. It's still a sprint, it's a marathon.