MICHAEL van Gerwen was close to tears and dropped the F-Bomb live on TV as he reached a seventh world darts final.
A 6-1 semi-final thumping of wasteful Chris Dobey propelled Mighty Mike into the familiar territory of a World Darts Championship finale as he eyes a fourth Sid Waddell Trophy.
Van Gerwen – who is trying to banish six years of heartache, injuries, surgeries and a Covid KO – grew emotional as he spoke about being away from absent family.
But he is likely to be hit in the pocket with a hefty fine before Friday’s final as he swore during an on-stage Sky Sports TV interview.
Van Gerwen, 35, said: “I can be happy with my performance. Of course, I wasn’t playing as explosive as I did in the last game. But I was efficient.
“When I had to do things, I did it in the right moments. That’s what you do if you want to win games.
“You have to tell yourself the title is far away. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to keep battling for everything in my body. I love what I do and love performing.
“It’s my passion, it’s my life, of course after my family. I really enjoyed this. I’m only in the final. I have won f***-all yet. So, I need to make sure I do it in the final.”
As the sporting world has obsessed these past 12 months about Luke Littler – and rightly praised world no.1 Luke Humphries – the Dutchman has been ignored, forgotten about and written off.
His worst calendar year for more than a decade saw him trophyless in the majors and sidelined as the Two Lukes grabbed all the attention.
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The No.3 seed assumed dominance over the oche when Phil Taylor’s Powers were fading and while new upstarts have emerged, he can remind us all that HE is the best player of his generation.
His last Ally Pally success was 2019 but since then, he has been beaten in TWO world finals – to Peter Wright and Michael Smith – and taken time off for wrist and jaw surgery.
There was also the year he was booted out of this tournament after he tested positive for coronavirus.
Other unforgettable times at world level included the humiliation handed out by Dave Chisnall and Scott Williams and the gut-wrenching moment he played second fiddle to Smith’s Greatest Leg Of All Time.
Van Gerwen added: “I’m here with a mission and a target. You’ll always have ups and downs.
“I showed a lot of mentality. Even when things don’t go your way, I was still able to produce good stuff in the right moments.
“That gives me a lot of confidence. To win on this stage, especially in the semi-final, it means a lot to me. In front of this crowd and with my family watching.”
In contrast, this was a sad situation for Dobey, 34, and all his North East fans, from Bedlington to Ashington, as he had finally reached the last four of the competition on his ninth attempt.
There will be huge disappointment that he was unable to make this more competitive as he hit a oche roadblock.
In fairness, earning £100,000 in prize money shows how far he has come from those days he used to place orange-and-white traffic cones for motorway closures in the early hours of the mornings.
A quiet, undemonstrative figure on the Tour, Dobey won the Bull backstage and had the benefit of the throw in the opening leg – but that did not matter a jot.
Van Gerwen has cruised under the radar this championship while everyone has obsessed about the fortunes of the Lukes of Hazard in top half of the draw.
At pre-tournament odds of 11-1 – the longest he had been for years – the bookies did not fancy him to go all the way.
Nonetheless, he was a man on a mission here and stormed through the first set, launching an opening 180, enjoying a break of throw and taking out a superb 100 checkout.
The second set should have meant a level contest but Dobey squandered three darts in the fifth leg and Van Gerwen was soon punching the air in delight as he went 2-0 up.
Dobey bossed set three, reeling in the Big Fish of 170 and then scoring 108 to ensure it would not be a whitewash.
Hopes he might stage a comeback from two sets behind, like he did against Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals, were ruined as Van Gerwen took out 100 in set four.
The intensity and quality dipped as Van Gerwen moved 4-1 ahead but then he upped the ante with a magnificent 158 in leg one of the sixth set.
Dobey earned a small measure of respect with a Shanghai 120 in leg one of the seven set when MVG had threatened a nine-darter leg but then missed the seventh throw.
Nailing double 16 on his third attempt ensured this mean green darting machine would knock out ‘Hollywood’ – and maybe he will have his own Tinsteltown ending for a change.
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