Friday 22 May 2015 06:14, UK
World No 1 Michael van Gerwen only had himself to blame after missing a number of doubles in a 11-7 Premier League final defeat to Gary Anderson.
The pre-tournament favourite beat his Dutch compatriot Raymond van Barneveld to reach Thursday's showpiece at London's O2, but failed to live up to the hype in the final.
"Fantastic final doesn’t count for me," the former world champion told reporters. "I would rather win playing a bad game than lose a good game and that’s exactly what happened.
"The only thing I can tell myself is practise my doubles next time. I give four, five legs away that I didn't need to lose in this game and I know that. That's why it hurts so much.
"I think at the end of the game I was the better player, but every time he sneaked out. To be fair, you can't say anything about Gary he’s a fantastic player. The luck tonight was on his side and sometimes you need to have that a little. He’s a fantastic player and after the worlds he's playing really well.
"Close doesn’t count. You need to win, simple. Fifteen weeks in a row I was the best player because I ended top of the league and then you end all over again. Then I managed to win the semi-finals, but lost the final, went out missing loads of doubles.
"When you are in this form, in this tournament, in a final like that against Gary, you aren’t allowed to miss. I can only look to myself, because I lost, no-one else."
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