Michael Van Gerwen produced a stunning comeback against Peter Wright to win day one of the PDC Summer Series.

The world number one was 7-5 down, but didn’t allow the world champion a match dart, to take a 8-7 victory and his first Players Championship title of 2020.

Aside from the top two meeting, day one also saw:

• Gabriel Clemens and Danny Noppert increase their chances of being in the World Matchplay
• Ricky Evans climb into the Matchplay qualification places
• Krzysztof Ratajski hit the highest average of the day en route to a semi final
• Eddie Lovely come through his board and make a last 16
• A whole host of seeds crashing out early on

MvG back to his best

The Green Machine hadn’t won a Pro Tour title this year heading into the first day at Milton Keynes, leading to questions about whether he had lost his aura.

But the Dutchman looked in imperious form throughout. After comfortably beating Ciaran Teehan 6-1, he survived a match dart against William Borland to come through 6-5.

He then followed up with a 6-4 victory over Callan Rydz, in the game of the day which saw both players average over 106.

Once through his board, van Gerwen dispatched Jamie Hughes 6-1 and fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert 6-0, before averaging 107 against Gabriel Clemens to win his semi final 7-3, despite missing a D12 for a nine dart finish.

In the final against Wright, the world number one started strongly, going ahead 5-2. The match then turned on a 112 checkout from Wright, which saw the world champion win five straight legs to go 7-5 up and on the brink of the title.

But Van Gerwen would not let Wright have a match dart, as he reeled off the final three legs to win 8-7 and take home the £10,000 top prize.

Speaking after his win, MvG told Online Darts: “Peter had a couple of really good finishes and I missed a few darts at a double here and there. But you have to win eight legs, not seven. Simple as that.

“I played well. People know my capabilities. They know what I’m capable of. I don’t have to prove anything.”

Van Gerwen also believes Peter Wright isn’t “my biggest threat. Gerwyn Price is my biggest threat or Gary Anderson. Every time I say that he hates it!”

Wright falls at the final hurdle

It was fitting that after 100 days of waiting, the first final after the restart saw the world’s top two do battle.

Peter Wright started the day very slowly, with a 6-5 win over Ron Meulenkamp, and then a 6-3 victory over Derk Telenkes.

A 6-3 win over James Wilson saw the world champion win his board, and then he never looked back. After going 2-0 down to Rob Cross, he won six straight legs to take the match. This saw him into a quarter final against Glen Durrant, with Snakebite winning 6-3 in a high quality affair.

He then went 7 darts into a nine dart finish in a fantastic semi final performance against Krzysztof Ratajski, which he won 7-3. Unfortunately for Snakebite, he just couldn’t quite get over the line against van Gerwen in the final.

What else happened?

It was a dramatic day of the PDC Summer Series, which saw loads of big names fall in the first round including:

• Daryl Gurney
• Nathan Aspinall
• Gary Anderson
• Joe Cullen

Adrian Lewis also fell in the first round to Eddie Lovely. This started the challenge tour player’s run to the last 16 of the event, beating Michael Smith in his board final.

Ian White fell in the second round, as did the number one seed Gerwyn Price, which means they could potentially have tough opening round matches tomorrow.

A run to the quarter final for Danny Noppert has seen him all but secure his place at the World Matchplay, and Gabriel Clemens’ semi final appearance means he’s in a good position to qualify too.

Ricky Evans has pushed Kim Huybrechts out of the Matchplay qualification places after his last 16 run, and he now occupies the final position.

A last 16 appearance by Darren Webster has also potentially put him back in the running to make the prestigious tournament.

View the:

• PDC Order of Merit. The top 16 players on this will be seeded for the World Matchplay.
• PDC Pro Tour of Merit. The top 16 players who aren’t already in the top 16 on the normal order of merit will qualify.

How can I follow day two of the Summer Series?

We’ll have day two, and the rest of the Summer Series, covered at Online Darts.

There will be a live blog from 11.30am giving you results and ranking changes as they happen.

There will be updates across our:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

You can also watch the Summer Series live.

Day One Results

FINAL

Michael van Gerwen 8-7 Peter Wright

 

SEMI FINALS

Michael van Gerwen 7-3 Gabriel Clemens

Peter Wright 7-2 Krzysztof Ratajski

 

QUARTER FINAL

Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Danny Noppert

Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Mensur Suljovic

Peter Wright 6-3 Glen Durrant

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Dave Chisnall

 

LAST 16

Danny Noppert 6-3 Stephen Bunting

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Jamie Hughes

Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Darren Webster

Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Steve Beaton

Peter Wright 6-2 Rob Cross

Glen Durrant 6-5 Jason Lowe

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Eddie Lovely

Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ricky Evans

 

ROUND THREE

Stephen Bunting 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker

Danny Noppert 6-5 Ross Smith

Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Callan Rydz

Jamie Hughes 6-4 James Wade

Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Vincent van der Voort

Darren Webster 6-4 Steve Brown

Steve Beaton 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Robert Collins

Peter Wright 6-3 James Wilson

Rob Cross 6-3 Simon Whitlock

Jason Lowe 6-4 Andy Hamilton

Glen Durrant 6-2 Benito van de Pas

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Ryan Searle

Eddie Lovely 6-4 Michael Smith

Ricky Evans 6-4 Richard North

Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jonny Clayton

 

ROUND TWO

Martijn Kleermaker 6-5 Gerwyn Price

Stephen Bunting 6-3 Steve West

Danny Noppert 6-2 Madars Razma

Ross Smith 6-5 Jose De Sousa

Michael van Gerwen 6-5 William Borland

Callan Rydz 6-5 Matthew Edgar

James Wade 6-1 Joe Murnan

Jamie Hughes 6-2 Jeff Smith

Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Chris Dobey

Vincent van der Voort 6-1 James Hubbard

Steve Brown 6-4 Andy Boulton

Darren Webster 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan

Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Ian White

Steve Beaton 6-2 Arjan Konterman

Robert Collins 6-5 Brendan Dolan

Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Vincent Van der Meer

Peter Wright 6-4 Derk Telnekes

James Wilson 6-2 Kim Huybrechts

Rob Cross 6-1 Max Hopp

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Josh Payne

Jason Lowe 6-1 Kirk Shepherd

Andy Hamilton 6-4 Karel Sedlacek

Glen Durrant 6-0 Alan Tabern

Benito van de Pas 6-3 Justin Pipe

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk

Ryan Searle 6-1 Matthew Dennant

Michael Smith 6-5 Mervyn King

Eddie Lovely 6-3 Gavin Carlin

Ricky Evans 6-2 Niels Zonneveld

Richard North 6-4 Matt Clark

Dave Chisnall 6-5 Devon Petersen

Jonny Clayton 6-0 Wayne Jones

 

ROUND ONE RESULTS

Gerwyn Price 6-5 Jelle Klassen

Martijn Kleermaker 6-5 Geert Nentjes

Steve West 6-2 Mickey Mansell

Stephen Bunting 6-4 Peter Jacques

Danny Noppert 6-3 Darius Labanauskas

Madars Razma 6-4 Andrew Gilding

Jose De Sousa 6-5 Mike De Decker

Ross Smith 6-0 Cameron Menzies

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Ciaran Teehan

Will Borland 6-1 Michael Barnard

Matthew Edgar 6-4 Keegan Brown

Callan Rydz 6-3 Ryan Joyce

James Wade 6-3 William O’Connor

Joe Murnan 6-2 Adam Hunt

Jamie Hughes 6-3 Martin Atkins (Wigan)

Jeff Smith 6-1 Jonathan Worsley

Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Mark McGeeney

Chris Dobey 6-5 Luke Humphries

Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Conan Whitehead

James Hubbard 6-2 Carl Wilkinson

Andy Boulton 6-5 Daryl Gurney

Steve Brown 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Robert Thornton

Darren Webster 6-4 Ted Evetts

Ian White 6-2 Nathan Derry

Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Jan Dekker

Steve Beaton 6-1 Kai Fan Leung

Arjan Konterman 6-4 Luke Woodhouse

Brendan Dolan 6-5 Adrian Gray

Robert Collins 6-3 Harald Leitinger

Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Nick Kenny

Vincent van der Meer 6-3 Lisa Ashton

Peter Wright 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp

Derk Telnekes 6-4 Harry Ward

Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal

James Wilson 6-5 Gary Blades

Rob Cross 6-4 Boris Krcmar

Max Hopp 6-3 Bradley Brooks

Josh Payne 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena

Simon Whitlock 6-4 Christian Bunse

Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Joe Cullen

Jason Lowe 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven

Andy Hamilton 6-2 Dimitri van den Bergh

Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Mike van Duivenbode

Glen Durrant 6-4 Steve Lennon

Alan Tabern 6-3 Scott Mitchell

Justin Pipe 6-5 Darren Penhall

Benito van de Pas 6-4 Scott Waites

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Simon Stevenson

Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 John Henderson

Ryan Searle 6-3 Aaron Beeney

Matthew Dennant 6-3 Martin Schindler

Michael Smith 6-5 Ryan Murray

Mervyn King 6-0 Nathan Rafferty

Eddie Lovely 6-1 Adrian Lewis

Gavin Carlin 6-5 David Pallett

Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Nathan Aspinall

Ricky Evans 6-5 Graham Usher

Matt Clark 6-2 Gary Anderson

Richard North 6-5 Scott Baker

Dave Chisnall 6-1 Jamie Lewis

Devon Petersen 6-1 Barrie Bates

Jonny Clayton 6-3 Ryan Meikle

Wayne Jones 6-3 Reece Robinson