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Michael van Gerwen is closing in on his fourth World Championship title after bulldozing his way to the final.
The Dutchman, who last won at Alexandra Palace in 2019, put in a masterful performance against Chris Dobey to earn a 6-1 win.
After a wretched 2024, where he failed to win a televised major tournament and slipped behind Luke Littler and Luke Humphries in the reckoning, Van Gerwen is now one victory away from re-establishing himself at the top of the sport.
He was in sumptuous form against Dobey, who had broken new ground by reaching the semi-final for the first time.
He averaged just below 100, threw eight 180s and took out three ton-plus checkouts, including a majestic 158.
Van Gerwen is now into a seventh showpiece event at Ally Pally, with only the great Phil Taylor making more, and he will face either Luke Littler or Stephen Bunting on Friday night.
All the attention has been on the teen sensation during this tournament, but the Dutchman is looking ominously good and will fancy his chances of getting his hands on the Sid Waddell Trophy for the fourth time.
Playing in his ninth semi-final, this was familiar territory for the 35-year-old, while Dobey had expended a lot of emotional energy in beating Gerwyn Price in the quarter-final.
A six-minute first set against the throw put Van Gerwen on the road to victory and when Dobey missed three darts to finish 40 he went 2-0 up.
Dobey reeled in the ‘big fish’ 170 checkout and then finished 108 to finally get on the board but it was a fleeting moment of promise.
Van Gerwen was able to coast through the rest of the match, twice threatening a nine-dart finish with six perfect darts to start a leg, as he is back in the final.
Not that he is counting his chickens, with a blunt response during his onstage interview, where he said: “I’m in the final, I’ve won f*** all yet, I need to make sure I do it in the final.
“I am here with a mission, with a target, you are always going to have ups and downs, today I showed maturity, even when I wasn’t at my best I produced some good stuff at the right moments and that gives me confidence.
“To win in the semi-final means a lot to me. What do I always say, we are not even close yet, we are still so far away.
“Tomorrow is another day. The title is still far away, that is what I have to tell myself, I don’t want to make mistakes, I want to keep battling.”
