World Matchplay Final: Gary Anderson takes on debutant Dimitri Van den Bergh in Sunday's showpiece
Coverage of the World Matchplay final gets underway from 8:30pm on Sunday live on Sky Sports Action & Main Event
Monday 27 July 2020 13:40, UK
Following a fascinating eight days of thrills and spills in Milton Keynes, 2018 champion Gary Anderson will take on debutant Dimitri Van den Bergh in Sunday's showpiece, for the right to be crowned 2020 World Matchplay champion.
None of the world's top four progressed to the quarter-finals - the first time that has happened at a major tournament since the World Grand Prix in October 2012 - yet the quality has not suffered.
Anderson defied a spirited fightback from former protégé Michael Smith to come through a pulsating semi-final on Saturday, before Van den Bergh secured the biggest win of his life to condemn Glen Durrant to a fourth successive semi-final defeat in a major PDC event.
'The Flying Scotsman' is bidding to complete a behind-closed-doors double at the Marshall Arena, having lifted the 2018 UK Open title in Minehead, where spectators were unable to attend due to adverse weather conditions.
There are some striking similarities between the two tournaments. There were also a multitude of upsets at that UK Open and the tournament culminated with Anderson taking on a young debutant appearing in his first major final - Corey Cadby.
Live World Matchplay Darts
Van den Bergh will be hoping to fare better than the enigmatic Australian but it's already been a breakthrough week for the two-time World Youth champion, as his exploits have seen him break into the world's top 16.
The Belgian has already defeated the world No 6 and two multiple world champions and if he adds a third to his list of scalps, he will become the 10th man since the tournament's inception to lift the coveted Phil Taylor Trophy.
Despite Anderson's scathing assessment of his game at present, victory over 'The Dream Maker' tonight will see him join Michael van Gerwen and Rod Harrington in scooping two Matchplay titles.
Anderson's route to the final
The 49-year-old has not been at his vintage best throughout the tournament, but John Part's assessment of Anderson being 'necessity driven' could not have been more accurate.
The two-time world champion kicked off his campaign with a 10-5 victory over Justin Pipe, before battling past ninth seed James Wade in a battle of the former Matchplay champions.
Anderson then managed to see off the challenge of Michael van Gerwen's conqueror Simon Whitlock to set-up a semi-final tussle against his former protégé Smith.
Anderson was without a ranking victory over 'Bully Boy' since 2017 after losing the pair's last four meetings, but experience proved invaluable for the Scot, who avoided a late capitulation to secure a place in his second Matchplay final.
Van den Bergh's route to the final
The mercurial Belgian is renowned for being a player that thrives on the big stage, but before a dart was throw in Milton Keynes, he was a staggering 200/1 shot with most bookmakers.
He enjoyed a dream debut win over the highly-fancied Nathan Aspinall, taking out two huge ton-plus finishes to record his first career victory over the world No 6.
The 26-year-old then reeled off six straight legs from 9-5 down to dump out 2018 quarter-finalist Joe Cullen, before producing a dominant display to halt the resurgence of two-time world champion Adrian Lewis in the last eight.
Van den Bergh met his stablemate and three-time world champion Durrant in the last four and in a captivating tussle, youth toppled experience, as the Belgian ran out a 17-15 winner to move one win away from fulfilling his darting dreams.
In their own words…
Gary Anderson
"They were starting to drop low, I couldn't throw my darts right. It's driving me bonkers to be honest. If I had lost that game, that was me done.
"It's happening too much now. I can't throw my darts, I can't let go. I am chilled out but I'm just expecting to walk back and do what I was doing two, three, four, five years ago and it isn't happening.
"It's starting to get to me now. It's alright when the darts are going high, but they're dropping about an inch below that treble every time and then it's snatching time and panic, but we got there in the end."
Dimitri Van den Bergh
"As soon as I managed to win my quarter-final against Adrian Lewis I said to myself: 'I am in it to win it', so I keep my focus on winning it.
"I am so happy and proud I'm in the final, but I want to win it tomorrow and right now that's in my mind. I'm not finished yet. I'm not going to be in that final just to participate. I'm going to be in that final to win.
I know it's the first to 18 [legs] but I managed to win against one of the players in my eyes that is one of the greatest, which is Glen Durrant, so I believe in myself that I'm going to be able to win against Gary Anderson as well."
Mark Webster's Verdict
Gary Anderson has come under the radar. I think he's just enjoyed that and Dimitri Van den Bergh - I was so impressed with him. He controlled the match and led Glen and suddenly he was behind and he still managed to find a way back in his first major semi-final. He'll be so excited this morning.
It's going to be a good final. We always say it but the early part is important. You can see in finals when it's your first time, if it races away from you, you fit in that feeling of 'Well at least I'm here' and you lose your focus on the game.
I'm going for Gary. I think he's gradually got better as the tournament has gone on. I've bumped into him a few times this week and he's super chilled. If he was any more laid back he'd be on the floor.
Stuart Pyke's Verdict
For me, Dimitri has come of age as a darts player. He's in the big time and he belongs in the big time and he's proved it. He's had the quarter-finals at Ally Pally, the UK Open and a couple of others, and he just has the feeling now that he belongs.
It's just the start for him. He's into the top 16 of the world, he'll be captaining Belgium at the World Cup later in the year and his stage presence is the big story [of the week].
I think experience wins the day. I think Anderson wins it, simply because of experience in a big final. Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me if Dimitri has done what he's done all week and manages to pull this off, but pushed I'd go for Anderson to win.
Darts is back on Sky Sports in August, as the Premier League returns with six consecutive nights of action getting underway on Tuesday August 25.
