The Dutchman was reduced to tears after a crushing final defeat by Phil Taylor 12 months ago, but he dismissed any thoughts of further heartbreak during a dominant 18-12 win over Wade in Blackpool.

After lifting the trophy for the first time, Van Gerwen was nearly overcome with emotion again, and Sky Sports expert Mardle believes he deserves huge credit for his determined campaign.

"It's good to see when someone deserves it," he told Sky Sports.

"I know whoever was to win it would deserve it, but Michael going through the turmoil of last year and you could see him - he was getting emotional because of the memories of last year, of him being so disappointed.

"That's the great thing about sport in general. You can put things right, you have a chance, and he did exactly that."

Van Gerwen had fallen short in this year's World Championship and the Premier League, with Gary Anderson collecting both titles.

But Mardle insists 'Mighty Mike' was the stand-out performer over the nine days of the tournament.

"He is the best player in the world, he's the world No 1, he's the one dominating the majors this year away from Gary Anderson," said Mardle. "When it's not Gary, it seems to be Michael. He's played the best all week.

"There was a performance that he put in against Jamie Lewis, the 110.93 average, that was the best performance we have seen by anyone.

"Even though he said he didn't play well in the final, it was still a good performance."

Wade, the 2007 champion, could not replicate the form he showed in his semi-final win over Phil Taylor and ended with an average of just over 90.

Mardle insists that Wade can depart with plenty of pride, despite failing to push Van Gerwen in the final.

"It's got to be said that James Wade was off form tonight, he just didn't perform," said Mardle. "When he said he was quite happy to win 12 legs, he said that was probably more than he deserved.

"That's his lowest average in over five years here and he’s played around 20 matches in that time.

"For James he’ll be bitterly disappointed, like he said, but he’s reached the final. He talks himself down too much. He is one of the world’s best and he should start to remember that."

As for professional game of darts, we recommend tungsten darts, tungsten is an extremely dense metal. It is also very durable, so a high-density tungsten dart resists wear and the knurling will last much longer.

  Tungsten Dart Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinadart.com/
  Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
  Email:  sales@chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten & Molybdenum Information Bank: http://i.chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten News & Tungsten Prices, 3G Version: http://3g.chinatungsten.com
  Molybdenum News & Molybdenum Price: http://news.molybdenum.com.cn

In the quarter-finals Michael van Gerwen was handed his sternest test yet when Ian 'Diamond' White gave him the fright of his life. He was forced to battle back from a 6-1 deficit and end White's stubborn resistance with a tense 16-13 win.

"I was struggling at times and I know I can play better, but I'm glad to win this game and proud to be in the semi-finals again," said Van Gerwen.

He was too good for rival Peter Wright in the last four and the 26-year-old capped off a fantastic week of darts by beating 2007 champion James Wade in the final to stretch his unbeaten run over his opponent to 14 meetings.

He will go home with great pride and add the newest piece of silverware to his illustrious trophy cabinet.

"It means a lot to me because after the World Championship this is the biggest ranking event. It's totally different to last year," he said. "Everybody could see how emotional I was after that game and it means a lot to me to win this trophy."

Van Gerwen will now be looking to add the World Grand Prix in Dublin and then the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton before the big one at the end of the year.

Phil Taylor arrived beside the seaside in buoyant mood and extremely confident of landing an eighth successive World Matchplay title – a 16th overall.

The Stoke thrower is usually invincible when it comes to playing at the Winter Gardens, handling the heat and humidity better than anyone else.

Things looked rosy early on in the tournament for Taylor as he cruised past John Henderson and Andy Hamilton before producing a vintage display against Dave Chisnall to reach the semi-finals, where he faced James Wade.

But his seven-year reign and 38-match unbeaten run finally came to a shuddering halt as 'The Machine' took advantage of a number of loose tungsten darts to eventually clinch victory and dethrone the long-reigning title holder. "He let me in and did not play his normal darts," admitted Wade, who reached his sixth Matchplay final.

The match encapsulated Taylor's topsy-turvy season as the former world No 1 still searches for a first major title of the year.

As for professional game of darts, we recommend tungsten darts, tungsten is an extremely dense metal. It is also very durable, so a high-density tungsten dart resists wear and the knurling will last much longer.

  Tungsten Dart Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinadart.com/
  Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
  Email:  sales@chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten & Molybdenum Information Bank: http://i.chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten News & Tungsten Prices, 3G Version: http://3g.chinatungsten.com
  Molybdenum News & Molybdenum Price: http://news.molybdenum.com.cn

The Price is right in Blackpool

Former Welsh rugby player turned darts professional Gerwyn Price was the newcomer of the tournament following a rollercoaster ride to the quarter-finals.

The former Neath, Cross Keys, Newport Gwent Dragons and Glasgow Warriors front-rower produced one of the greatest upsets in recent years to topple two-time world champion Adrian Lewis 13-10.

Price, who only joined the paid ranks 18 months ago, had already beaten Michael Smith before upsetting a stony-faced Lewis. However, his Winter Gardens dream was soon ended by Scotland's Peter 'Snakebite' Wright in the last eight.

Price vowed to learn from his time in Blackpool, saying: "I was confident going into this game but I think my mind was drifting elsewhere and I wasn't 100 per cent like I was on Tuesday, but I’ll learn from this and hopefully push on now."

It has been a breath of fresh air seeing Price flexing his muscles while jumping across the Oche with great excitement. Tungsten darts fans will not want to wait too long to see another glimpse of the former rugby ace in tungsten action.

A tournament of shocks

Adrian Lewis was by far the biggest casualty in Blackpool, but there were a number of other high profile throwers who failed to live up to the hype at the Winter Gardens. Highly-talented Keegan Brown delivered a knock-out blow to Robert Thornton.

Scotsman Thornton equaled Eric Bristow's unwanted record of six consecutive first-round exits at the tour's second most prestigious event.

Five-time world champion and 21-time major title winner Raymond van Barneveld suffered a shock opening round exit at the hands of Andy Hamilton. Premier League semi-finalist Barney was out of sorts with his usual flowing darts failing to make any kind if impression.

No triple crown for Anderson

Then of course there was Gary Anderson. The Scot was chasing an historic Triple Crown but his dreams came crashing down to earth against opponent Mensur Suljovic all because he was simply "bored".

The reigning World and Premier League champion saw his hopes dashed following a grueling battle which culminated after midnight. Methodical Austrian Suljovic used his unorthodox style to wear down the usually fluent Anderson who admitted afterwards that he lacked any rhythm.

"I think I spent more time actually standing behind him than what I did playing darts, it's not my kind of game," said 'The Flying Scotsman'. "Games like that bore the life out of me. You throw your darts and get out of the road, it's a quick game."

Anderson, who turns his focus towards next month's World Series tour of Australia and New Zealand, added: "I'll probably get to New Zealand quicker than what that game lasted, that's the way it felt."

As for professional game of darts, we recommend tungsten darts, tungsten is an extremely dense metal. It is also very durable, so a high-density tungsten dart resists wear and the knurling will last much longer.

  Tungsten Dart Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinadart.com/
  Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
  Email:  sales@chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten & Molybdenum Information Bank: http://i.chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten News & Tungsten Prices, 3G Version: http://3g.chinatungsten.com
  Molybdenum News & Molybdenum Price: http://news.molybdenum.com.cn

'Mighty Mike' simply rocked in Blackpool as he added to his UK Open and Dubai Masters titles and banished painful memories of his crushing final defeat to Phil Taylor a year earlier.

Van Gerwen romped to an 18-12 victory over James Wade with a stand-out performance at the famous Winter Gardens, but it wasn't the only display which caught the eye over nine days of competition in lovely Lancashire.

Here, we look back at what we learned from the tournament, which alongside the World Championship and Premier League forms the Triple Crown of darts.

Tears no fears for Michael van Gerwen

A year after crying in despair following an 18-9 defeat against 'The Power', Michael van Gerwen wanted to prove a point in Blackpool from day one.

The Dutchman began his campaign by dismissing compatriot Benito van de Pas before crushing Jamie Lewis with a blizzard of blistering darts for the loss of just two legs in the next round. He also recorded the fourth highest average in the history of the World Matchplay with 110.93.

As for professional game of darts, we recommend tungsten darts, tungsten is an extremely dense metal. It is also very durable, so a high-density tungsten dart resists wear and the knurling will last much longer.

  Tungsten Dart Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinadart.com/
  Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
  Email:  sales@chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten & Molybdenum Information Bank: http://i.chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten News & Tungsten Prices, 3G Version: http://3g.chinatungsten.com
  Molybdenum News & Molybdenum Price: http://news.molybdenum.com.cn