Michael van Gerwen Clattered Max Hopp to Reach PDC World Championship Last 16

Michael van Gerwen was thoroughly impressive as he comfortably saw off the challenge of Max Hopp to reach the last 16 of the PDC World Championship.

It looked like it was going to be a very short night’s work for MVG when he rattled off the first three sets in the blink of an eye, looking near his untouchable best.

However, the German rallied impressively and made the scoreline respectable, although he never really looked likely to win the contest. It was a very solid display from the world number one who will only have reaffirmed his position as tournament favourite with that performance.

MVG took no time to win the first set, without dropping a leg or missing a dart at double, averaging 112.7. From the off it looked like it was going to be an unpleasant evening for Hopp. 

The German won the first leg of the second set, but then he lost the following six on the spin to fall 3-0 behind in sets. That sixth leg in a row for Van Gerwen was finished off with a 170, to put a cherry on a tasty tungsten cake. 

Incredibly that shot made it the fifth World Championship on the spin that MVG has hit the biggest finish in the game.

Max refused to wilt in the face of this onslaught and was averaging 96 himself as they moved into the fourth set, the problem was that Van Gerwen was averaging 105. But persistence paid off for the ‘Maximiser’ as he produced a stunning set of darts in the fourth to win it 3-0, ending it with a 148 finish, averaging 104.8 over the three legs. 

Things started to get all the more interesting in the fifth set as Hopp won the first leg then broke MVG to take the second to make it five straight legs for the German. Van Gerwen won the next, but Hopp had a dart to win the set with another 148 finish, he missed it and MVG swooped to break and level the set. 

After this scare, the world number one seemed to have got his head straight again and comfortably took the fifth leg and the match, finishing with an average of 101.51. 

Although an excellent performance, Van Gerwen said after the game he was being bothered by a back issue. 

‘My back is hurting a bit,’ MVG told Sky Sports. ‘It’s not a big issue but it’s just annoying because every time I take a step on the stage I feel it, but I’ll be fine don’t worry.’ 

‘Mighty Mike’ will now face the winner of Adrian Lewis vs Darius Labanauskas in the last 16.

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