Winmau MvG Diamond Edition Dartboard

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That’s all for our coverage of a memorable final. It was the night when one of the nice guys finally completed his Homeric journey to greatness, and won the greatest leg in darts history to boot. Michael Smith is now world champion and world No1, and who knows what this victory will empower him to achieve. Buntz took out 137 for a 2-0 lead and then stole the third leg when Wright missed two darts at double, before the Scot reduced the arrears by at last getting on the board. A shy waitress explains that linguine is pasta and Van Gerwen’s brooding expression suddenly lights up. “OK,” he says. “Spaghetti bolognaise. I’ll have that. Soup and spaghetti bolognaise.”

I think it’s going to be wide open this year. You can’t really say an outsider [will win it], but I don’t think it will be one of the favourites. Maybe it could be an old 52-year-old, you never know!”In the other Group H tie, Damon Heta defeated Ricardo Pietreczko in similar fashion, producing a 150 skin-saver in the penultimate leg, before surviving a match dart from the German newcomer in a dramatic decider. Grand Slam of Darts results I remember that first time against Phil in 2008. I had a chance to beat him but before you can know how to win the worlds you have to learn how to lose it.” Women’s World Matchplay champion Greaves converted 101 and 124 finishes to seize the early initiative, but following a run of eight straight holds, Aspinall sank a nerveless 98 finish to deny Greaves a debut victory. In response to Van Gerwen’s comments, the PDC said in a statement on Tuesday evening: “We hope both Vincent and Michael remain in good health and share their disappointment that they were unable to continue in the tournament. We won’t comment on individual players’ circumstances and we continue to follow approved protocols at the World Darts Championship, which includes testing for all players involved in the event.” Her response is not quite the same as when a roaring crowd at Alexandra Palace reacts exultantly to the many faces of Mighty Mike during the PDC world championship – which starts on Thursday with Van Gerwen playing Joe Cullen.

Gary Anderson is another former finalist in action on Monday, and the Scottish stalwart has been drawn against Portugal’s Jose de Sousa in an intriguing first round contest. Michael wasn’t at his best today. He missed a couple of doubles and those crucial doubles have got to go in if you want to win tournaments. If it wasn't for a mid-match blip against Stephen Bunting, his journey to the final would have looked like an absolute procession. Van Gerwen replied with another leg but the deficit was too much to recover as Price finally finished things off to claim his eighth Euro Tour title. It's hard enough averaging over 90 for one match of double-start darts - even in the first round - so for Michael van Gerwen to be at 93 after 15 sets across his four matches shows just how dominant he's been this week.On New Year’s Day 2014, in the final against Peter Wright, the Scot who favours a colourful Mohican and paints a snake on the side of his shaven head, Van Gerwen “was a huge favourite”. Never expected this outcome as I thought I did everything in my possibility to avoid it. Also ain’t got any symptoms. Van Gerwen, who last won the title in 2016, only took the lead in the 29th leg despite a three-dart average of 101. Elsewhere, two-time runner-up Dave Chisnall begins his bid against debutant Luke Woodhouse, having warmed up for this year’s event by winning two ranking titles within the last week. Anderson celebrated his second ranking title of the year in Friday’s Players Championship 24, having produced a series of breath-taking displays throughout last week’s ProTour treble-header.

I did have tears after that game against Phil because I love darts,” Van Gerwen says earnestly. “I was desperate to win. It’s a tournament I’ve never won and, when you don’t show what you’re capable of, it hurts. Then a couple of tears fall because I don’t like losing – especially when you want to win a tournament and you know that you’re better than someone.” Aspinall added: "I have shown again what I am capable of. I wasn’t anywhere near my best, but I dug deep and whatever was thrown at me, I managed to find a way to win."

Luke is a good player. I helped him qualify last week by beating Scott Williams [in Budapest], but I’m just going to relax and play the board, not the player.”

Two-time winner James Wade – one of five former champions in the field – is also part of a stellar opening night line-up, as he takes on Poland’s premier player Krzysztof Ratajski. The first half of the match was an exhilarating ding-dong, the second a largely one-sided exhibition. Van Gerwen was below his best, with his average dropping just below 100 for the first time in the tournament, but the main reason for that was the relentless pressure he was under because of Smith’s scoring.

He dispensed with one of those arch rivals last night in the shape of Peter Wright, who crumbled to a 4-0 defeat, while the other - Gerwyn Price - was punished for every mistake in his semi-final by Aspinall. Mighty Mike flashes a gruesome summery smile. “We had a dart board at home and sometimes I’d throw three darts at it but nothing more. When I was 13 it was winter and we needed to do something inside. So we started a darts round robin. There were three of us. One of the guys was really bad but us other two had a real rivalry.”