PDC World Championship - Report Thirteenth Day, Afternoon
VAN GERWEN EDGES ANDERSON IN CLASSIC AS LEWIS And WADE SET UP QUARTER-FINAL DATE
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN produced a stunning comeback from 3-1 down against Gary Anderson to claim a narrow victory in their Ladbrokes World Championship third round clash on Saturday, as Adrian Lewis and James Wade set up a tasty quarter-final at Alexandra Palace.Dutch star van Gerwen, last year's runner-up at Ally Pally and the joint favourite to take home the Sid Waddell Trophy on New Year's Day, looked set to crash out in the last 16 as Anderson produced his best darts of the tournament.
The Scot, who had reached the 2011 final, was at his heavy-scoring best as he hit nine 180s in taking three of the game's opening four sets to move to the brink of a quarter-final spot. Anderson edged the first after van Gerwen had missed three darts to win the set, and though the Dutchman levelled by taking the second in a decider, the former Premier League champion claimed the third without reply before winning the fourth 3-2. Van Gerwen produced his best spell of the game to hit back in set five, taking the set 3-2 with winning legs of 12, 11 and 13 darts to pull back a set.
Anderson then led 2-1 in the sixth as he moved a leg away from victory, only to see van Gerwen finish a 13-darter to level before taking out a key 66 for the set in the decider, with the Scot waiting on a finish in both legs. The pair traded 180s as van Gerwen opened the final set with a 13-darter and though Anderson hit a 12th maximum of the game to level, van Gerwen held throw on double nine before finishing another 13-darter on double eight to complete his fightback.
"To be 3-1 behind and come back to win feels fantastic," said van Gerwen, who ended the game with a 100.20 average.
"When I was 3-1 down I thought, in my opinion, that it shouldn't have been 3-1 because I missed three darts to win the first set and two darts to win the fourth set. I knew I had to put on my A-game otherwise this World Championship would be gone, and I played really well after that and deserved to win the game. You always need a test and now I know what I can do."
Anderson admitted: "I should have had the game wrapped up earlier but I've given him the game. I could have had that wrapped up 4-0 but I made a few mistakes and Michael took out some checkouts when he needed it. I've been playing well for the last few months and I played well here, but I'm losing games that I shouldn't be losing and giving games away by making silly mistakes at silly times."
Earlier in the afternoon, two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis booked his place in the last eight with a 4-1 win over Mervyn King in a clinical display.
Lewis won two of the game's first three sets without reply as he took a 3-0 advantage before King edged the fourth 3-1. King also led 1-0 in the fifth as he threatened a comeback, but Lewis followed a 180 with a superb 115 finish to rock the Norfolk thrower, before taking the next two legs to complete the win.
"If it wasn't for my finishing being as good as it was, I'd have probaby lost 4-1," said Lewis. "My scoring wasn't very good, but if you're going to win a tournament sometimes you have a dodgy game, and that was mine. I took out the right shots at the right times. When Mervyn started his comeback, I took out the 115 and it was a big shot - you've got to keep your opponent under pressure and I got the job done in the end. I've got to score a little bit better than I did today but I know my finishing's fantastic, and if I bring my A-game then I've got a great chance of winning this. I'm the only player left in who's won this title before, so that gives me a bit of added confidence because I know what to do."
Lewis now faces number six seed James Wade in the quarter-finals, after the three-time semi-finalist swept aside South African number one Devon Petersen.
Wade had seen Darren Webster and Andy Smith miss match darts in his opening two rounds, but was never in the same position as he averaged almost 100 and finished over 50 percent of his chances at doubles against the qualifier. After winning the game's first set in a deciding leg, Wade won the next two by a 3-1 margin to take control, before coming from a leg down in the fourth to win a deciding leg and claim his spot in Sunday's quarter-finals.
"I don't believe the scoreline reflected the game but Devon missed a few shots and I'll take it," said Wade. "My finishing was good but it's still ten to 15 below what I can do. I was averaging 100 for most of the game but I've got two more gears on top of that, and other big players need to realise that. I've always been a player who needs to be pushed or needs to be put into a corner to come out fighting - I'd love to be able to go up there and average 105 or 106 every time, but that's not me unfortunately!"