Michael van Gerwen has warned he is unstoppable in his quest for a fourth world title.
The Dutchman cruised into a first PDC World Championship final since 2020 following a 6-0 semi-final victory in what was a feisty encounter against Dimitri van den Bergh.
And the Dutchman now takes on Michael Smith, who bids for a first world title in what will be his third final at the Ally Pally.
Van Gerwen, who is aiming to move up to fourth on the all-time list with a fourth world crown, said: “He’s not going to stop me, no one is going to stop me. I’m playing out of my skin at the moment.”
The 33-year-old had gone into the tournament ranked third in the world but will climb up to the top spot with victory later tonight, as would Smith.
Van Gerwen, who was forced to pull out in the early stages of last year’s tournament after testing positive for Covid, will go into the final as firm favourite.
He has been the star player at this year’s championship and averaged 108.28 and hit nine 180s against first-time semi-finalist van den Bergh last night.
Van den Bergh enjoyed a 170 checkout in the opening set between the pair but only managed to win four legs during a thoroughly one-sided match.
The lower-ranked player took umbrage at Van Gerwen encroaching into the exclusion zone when he was throwing and repeatedly appeared to delay throwing his darts to unsettle his opponent.
Van Gerwen merely told him to hurry up and said afterwards: “I don’t know what his problem was, you have to concentrate on your own game.
“Games can get tense but you have to focus. Dimi said I was stamping. I didn’t stamp at all. That is what he said. He was losing so had to say something.
“Then the commentary talked about it and I was standing in the exclusion zone. Just look towards my last 50-100 games and where I stand. You can base your opinion on that. I always do the same, I never do anything to put someone off.”
The earlier semi-final was a far tighter affair despite Smith, a losing finalist to van Gerwen in 2019 and tournament runner-up again last season, coming away a 6-2 winner.
After six of the sets went to a deciding fifth leg, Smith said: “Michael’s the odds-on favourite, he’s played really well but everyone can have a bad game. Hopefully it’s tomorrow.
“I told myself I had to step up tonight and luckily I did. Hopefully tomorrow I can step up again. I want to win and do everything I can. I’ll never give up. I want to get revenge.”
