Michael Van Gerwen Wins World Championship To Kick Off 2017
Could he do it? Of course he could.
As if it had never been in doubt, Michael Van Gerwen tightened his stranglehold on top-flight darts as he claimed his second ever PDC World Championship last Monday. And my, wasn’t it impressive?
His dismissal of reigning champion Gary Anderson 7-3 (winner here in 2015 and 2016 don’t forget) took no more than 90 minutes to complete and was a match that set a new record with 42 separate 180s thrown.
Anderson can be pleased with his performance, as can Dutchman Raymond Van Barneveld who, in an all-Dutch semi, threw a personal record 109.34. That wasn’t good enough against a stunning MVG who, on his way to a 6-2 victory, posted a World Championship record average of 114.05, beating the previous record of Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor’s 111.21 back in 2002.
The other semi, an all-Scots affair, saw Peter Wright’s bid for a first televised tourney triumph extinguished by Anderson who, despite hitting 22 180s and averaging 104.93 on the night, simply could not match Mighty Mike’s incredible average of 107.79 in the final.
The best darts betting events for 2017
As another calendar year gets underway, we will, as ever, look to find the best darts betting tips available online.
So what are the major events to look forward to in the coming year? First up at the end of January is The Masters in Milton Keynes featuring the world’s top 16 players.
Then, on February 2, The Premier League of Darts gets running at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena, taking place in different venues on Thursday nights for three months until we reach the playoffs at London’s O2 Arena. In March, The European Tour begins its supersized eleven-event run, which starts in Hildesheim, Germany.
The summer will see numerous global trips to far flung corners of the world, including The U.S. Darts Masters in Las Vegas, as well as other runs for the World Series of Darts, events for which will be announced further down the line.
The Betway World Cup of Darts will be held in June, while The World Matchplay runs at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens in July. In September, The Champions League of Darts gets its second running and October sees The World Grand Prix plus the conclusion of The European Championship.
November features The World Series of Darts Finals, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals before, in December, the 2017/18 World Darts Championship gets underway again concluding the year’s action at the Ally Pally one year from now.
Enjoy!
January
- January 27-29: Darts Masters
February
- February 2: Premier League Darts (Match day 1, Newcastle)
- February 9: Premier League Darts (Match day 2, Nottingham)
- February 16: Premier League Darts (Match day 3, Leeds)
- February23: Premier League Darts (Match day 4, Brighton)
March
- March 2: Premier League Darts (Match day 5, Exeter)
- March 9: Premier League Darts (Match day 6, Glasgow)
- March 16: Premier League Darts (Match day 7, Rotterdam, Netherlands)
- March 23: Premier League Darts (Match day 8, Manchester)
- March 24-26: European Tour 1 (Hildesheim, Germany)
- March 30: Premier League Darts (Match day 9, Cardiff)
April
- April 6: Premier League Darts (Match day 10, Dublin, Ireland)
- April 13: Premier League Darts (Match day 11, Liverpool)
- April 15-17: European Tour 2 (Jena, Germany)
- April 20: Premier League Darts (Match day 12, Belfast)
- April 21-23: European Tour 3 (Saarbruecken, Germany)
- April 27: Premier League Darts (Match day 13, Birmingham)
May
- May 4: Premier League Darts (Match day 14, Sheffield)
- May 5 – 7: European Tour 4 (Sindelfingen, Germany)
- May 11: Premier League Darts (Match day 15, Aberdeen)
- May 12-14: European Tour 5 (Gibraltar)
- May 18: Premier League Darts Play-Offs (London)
June
- June 1-4: World Cup (Frankfurt, Germany)
- June 9-11: European Tour 6 (Hamburg, Germany)
- June 22-23: European Tour 7 (Vienna, Austria)
- June 30-July 2: European Tour 8 (Leverkusen, Germany)
July
- July 22-30: World Matchplay (Blackpool)
August
September
- September 1-3: European Tour 9 (Maastricht, Netherlands)
- September 8-10: European Tour 10 (Mannheim, Germany)
- September 22-24: European Tour 11 (Riesa, Germany)
- September TBC: Champions League of Darts
October
- October 1-7: World Grand Prix (Dublin, Ireland)
- October 13-15: European Tour 12 (Goettingen, Germany)
- October 27-29: European Championship
November
- November 4-5: World Series Finals (Barnsley)
- November 11-19: Grand Slam (Wolverhampton)
- November 24-26: Players Championship Finals (Minehead)
December
- December TBC: World Darts Championship (London)