Michael van Gerwen has threatened to teach Luke Humphries a lesson when they clash in the World Matchplay Darts final on Sunday. The Dutchman, who is ranked number two in the world, came through a nervy semi-final to beat world No.3 Michael Smith 17-13.
Earlier in the day, Humphries powered past James Wade 17-10 at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.
It sets up a mouth-watering final between the top two players in the world – and Van Gerwen is gunning for the PDC World Championship title holder.
“I have to teach him a lesson tomorrow,” Van Gerwen said. “He has been doing really well lately so I need to put him in his place tomorrow.
“He had some good games as well but I think my scoring power is doing better than his so I need to make sure I keep the same rhythm going.
“I hope I can show everyone tomorrow and I can win this tournament.”
Humphries leads the head-to-head with 12 wins from their 20 previous meetings.
And the Brit was extremely humble after booking his place in the final, claiming that Wade got the better of him in the semi.
“It was relentless from James. Every time I was watching him throw I was just thinking ‘please, just give me one leg off’ and it just felt like he didn’t,” Humphries explained.
“He was absolutely brilliant and probably the better player. I’ve no idea how I’ve just won 17-10 there.
“I think that little period between 15 and 20 won it for me. It was a fantastic game. Against any other player he probably would have won.