The first day of 2019 will see the first world champion of the year crowned when the final of the PDC World Championship takes place inside the Alexandra Palace in London and it will be a repeat of the Premier League final as Michael van Gerwen faces Michael Smith for the Sid Waddell Trophy and £500,000.
Van Gerwen saw off Smith 11-4 in the o2 final but Smith has improved since then and has come of age over the two weeks of this tournament and has every chance of being crowned world champion for the first time. The Dutchman is looking to join the elite to have won the title three or more times.
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Michael van Gerwen
The Dutch star has cruised into his fourth World Championship final and he is looking to win the title for the third time in his career. In no match in this tournament has he dropped more than one set and his performance against Gary Anderson in the semi-final was one of the best, if not actually the benchmark, in the history of this fine competition.
The one thing which has caught the eye of van Gerwen in this tournament has been his finishing and with the majestic scoring power and natural ease in which he does everything he has looked the world champion in waiting from before Christmas. The only concern that could be had for the Dutchman is he has not been tested in this tournament and it will be interesting to see how he reacts if Smith gets him under pressure.
Michael Smith
Often I cringe when sportsmen make big claims heading into big events but to be fair to Michael Smith he has talked the talk and he has very much walked the walk. The question now is does he have one more big match in him? He has gone up a level with each round of the tournament so far and if he does that again he could be walking away with the title.
Smith is in his first world final but he’s been in enough televised and European Tour finals to know the drill. If he is to win this he will know he will have to score strongly and in a sustained fashion but more importantly than that he is going to have to hit his doubles, especially early on. If he can stay with van Gerwen over the first six sets he will have every chance in this final.
Head to Head
These two men have met on 31 occasions with van Gerwen coming out on top on 25 of them and Smith winning six times. Two of those Smith wins have been in 2018 but MVG has still come through seven times over that year. The pair have met in nine finals in all competitions with van Gerwen leading 7-2. This will be their second televised final after MVG came out on top in that Premier League final at the o2 Arena. This will be their first meeting in a set play format.
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Betting
I’m looking forward to this final. I believe Smith has the firepower to go toe-to-toe with van Gerwen for the initial stages of it at the very least and if he does that and is in touch after six sets then things could get very interesting. I’m a little wary of whether Smith can win because we saw him falter at the winning line in the World Series Finals finale and this is a different level again but when the winning dart is thrown in this final I believe it will be in at least the 11th set, if not a shade later in what could be one of the best finals there has ever been on this stage.
I’ll also take a bit of a punt on an unfamiliar double being the one that the title is won on. I’ll do that because the fast and frenzied style of these two could easily see them setting up a double and then splitting it, especially with the pressure that is on them. Double nine bailed Smith out big time in the semi-final and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him end up there while van Gerwen sets up D18 a fair bit and could easily split it into D9. 25/1 is a big enough price for a punt on that being the home of the last dart thrown in the tournament.
Tips
Back Over 10.5 sets for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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Back Double 9 to be the match winning double for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Betfred
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