Michael van Gerwen vows to HURT Michael Smith before PDC World Darts final
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN wants to hurt Michael Smith at the PDC World Darts Championship final.
MVG can become only the second player after Phil Taylor to be crowned PDC world champion three times if he sees off Smith tonight.
And after blowing away fellow two-time champ Gary Anderson 6-1 in the semi-final, Mighty Mike is in no mood for an upset.
"It's the first time for him in the final so I need to use my capability and of course my experience of finals against him," said Van Gerwen.
"We saw a lot of disappointments in the bottom half of the draw.
"I need to hurt him in the right moments, like I did against Gary Anderson."
Van Gerwen suffered a shock defeat to Rob Cross in the semi-final 12 months ago and he is taking nothing for granted.
The Dutchman added: "We have phenomenal games against each other.
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"Most of the important ones I've won and I need to make sure I keep doing that because he's a phenomenally talented player and I need to take that really seriously."
The 29-year-old set up a New Year's Day decider with Smith by thrashing Gary Anderson 6-1 in his semi-final.
Smith, meanwhile, had earlier booked his first final appearance with a 6-3 win over Nathan Aspinall.