Michael van Gerwen has progressed through to the 2023 PDC World Championship final with a 6-0 victory over Dimitri van den Bergh.
The three-time world champion found himself 2-1 adrift in the first set as Van den Bergh threatened to stamp his mark on their last-four showdown.
However, the Dutchman responded with some of the best darts of his career, taking the opener and then averaging 128.83 in two of the following five sets.
Although Van Gerwen hit just nine 180s, he produced a 58.06% checkout rate in a match where he traded 170 checkouts with his opponent and averaged in excess of 108.
Van Gerwen also dropped just four legs in the best-of-11 encounter, and will enter a final with Michael Smith as the clear favourite to win another crown at the Alexandra Palace.
MvG WHITEWASHES DIMI! 🔥💥
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 2, 2023
In a repeat of the 2019 final, Michael van Gerwen will face Michael Smith for World Championship glory!
MvG defeats Dimitri Van den Bergh in straight sets, averaging 108.28, to secure his place in a sixth World Championship final!#WCDarts | SF pic.twitter.com/Ma5tX7ouvr
While the fourth seed eventually beat Gabriel Clemens by a 6-2 scoreline, the Englishman had to dig deep to break clear of the German who more than held his own in the opening four sets.
Nevertheless, after Smith dominated the fifth, Clemens failed to take advantage from a winning position in the sixth, and Smith controlled the remainder of the contest.
The recently-crowned Grand Slam of Darts champion hit 19 180s, a 161 checkout and a 101.85 average to set up a third opportunity to win his first world title.
