Jonny Clayton endured an emotional rollercoaster before finally having his place confirmed in the play-offs of the Cazoo Premier League at P&J Live.
The Welshman saw his fate taken out of his hands by Nathan Aspinall in their quarter-final but his countryman Gerwyn Price ended the Englishman’s bid to reach the final – which he had to do to qualify – and ensure Clayton’s place in the final four at the O2 in London next week in the process.
In a night of high drama in Aberdeen, Michael van Gerwen was also forced to withdraw after suffering a pulled muscle in his shoulder in his quarter-final to leave him facing a fight to be fit for next week’s finals.
Victory for the Dreammaker
Dimitri Van den Bergh, who received a bye, beat Price 6-5 in a final leg shoot-out to clinch the £10,000 nightly prize.
The nightly win was his first and Van den Bergh was thrilled to end his league campaign with his maiden Premier League victory.
He said: “I’m feeling ecstatic, it’s finally come for me.
“Gezzy should have won at the very end but he missed and I took my chance. Oh my days, what is happening?
“I’ve had to wait all the way to the final night but it has finally happened. I’ve won a Premier League final and it’s the last one in Aberdeen.”
Aspinall close but so far in Aberdeen
For Clayton, the task had been a straightforward one. Beat his opponent and he would join Price, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith in London next week.
Aspinall, however, had it all to do as victory over Welshman Clayton was not enough.
He also had to win his semi-final to finish above the 2021 Premier League winner and qualify for the play-offs.
A tense, tight affair was anticipated between the duo in the quarter-final.
What Aspinall produced, however, was brilliance as he swept Clayton aside 6-1.
It took Clayton until the fifth leg to even get a dart at a double and he won his only leg with a 160 checkout.
But the outstanding Aspinall would not be denied as he set-up a semi-final meeting with Price.
Price dominant in quarter-final victory
League leader Price had already secured his place in London’s final but he had to reach the final in Aberdeen to be sure of heading to the capital as first seed.
Standing in his way was two-time former world champion and current world number two Peter Wright.
The Scot arrived in Aberdeen bottom of the table and with nothing but pride to play for.
Having won the Czech Open at the weekend – and backed by a raucous home support against panto villain Price – Wright was hopeful of building on his victory in Prague but he was swept aside by Welshman Price.
The Iceman was in imperious form as he secured a quarter-final victory with a 129 checkout sealing a 6-2 win over Wright.
Van den Bergh upsets Bully Boy
In the other quarter-final reigning world champion Smith was keen to keep his momentum going for London after arriving in Aberdeen looking for his fourth nightly win in a row in the league.
But his opponent Dimitri Van den Bergh had other ideas as he stunned Bully Boy with a 6-4 win.
The Belgian raced into a 4-0 lead before three missed match darts allowed Smith to reduce the deficit to 5-4.
However, Van den Bergh held his nerve to close out the match 6-4 to inflict a first win in 10 league matches on Smith.
Smith’s defeat meant he could not catch Price at the table.
It also meant he knew he would face six-time champion Michael van Gerwen in London next week in the play-off.
Injury woe for van Gerwen
The Dutchman was chasing his fourth nightly win of the season and his first since night six in Liverpool as he faced Chris Dobey.
All looked to be going to plan as he raced into a 5-0 lead but he then appeared to hurt his shoulder and was visibly wincing with every throw.
Dobey reduced the arrears to 5-3 before van Gerwen secured victory with the final leg.
While van Gerwen saw the medics to work on his shoulder, Price and Aspinall squared off in the first semi-final and the Iceman broke Aspinall in the first leg to establish a lead he never relinquished before securing a 6-3 win.
Van den Bergh triumphs in thrilling final
Price booked his place in the final against Van den Bergh, who was given a bye after van Gerwen, understandably with finals night seven days away, withdrew.
The Belgian was the underdog in the final against Price, who was in his ninth final appearance of the 16 rounds, but in a night of shocks, he came close to producing one more as he took a 5-3 lead.
But he missed a match dart and was punished by Price who levelled the final at 5-5.
Price would miss a chance to win the match in the final leg too allowing the Dreammaker to secure a dramatic victory.
Van den Bergh said: “When I beat Michael Smith I was thinking to myself ‘I’ve got to do the business’ against Michael van Gerwen and then I heard he had to pull out and I was in the final.
“It put me in a position where it was my second final. My first final was in Glasgow so to reach my second in Scotland again and win it by beating Michael Smith, who had won three nights in a row, and Gezzy wasn’t easy.
“All of a sudden Dimitri Van den Bergh has got his first W. Get in.”
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