Gurney rues “missed opportunity”

DARYL GURNEY admitted his “missed an opportunity” against Michael van Gerwen in the Unibet Premier League semi-finals.

The Northern Irishman went down 10-7 to the dynamic Dutchman at the O2 and was frustrated not to hit top gear against the World No.1.

It was an odd game between two of the top four players in the world with neither hitting top gear in a tense affair.

Superchin was level 5-5 at the break and was very much in with a shout of winning the match, but had a poor second half of the match, eventually ending with a 94 average.

MVG was also off colour and that clearly annoyed Gurney who had enjoyed a fabulous league campaign.

He said: “I went out there and Van Gerwen was for the grabs and I let him off.

“All the times I’ve played him I’ve missed doubles against him. I feel like I missed an opportunity, but ah well. “We were up there trying so hard it was ridiculous. I was hanging in there but I was practicing so poor tonight and the way I played was the way I was practicing.

“I went up there after not the greatest practice so I was a bit low on confidence.

“It wasn’t to be. It wasn’t a classic but it was entertaining.”

The break very much came at the wrong time for Gurney, having got it back level. The Dutchman found just an extra level to take five out of the next seven legs to wrap it up before going on to beat Rob Cross in the final.

By Phil Lanning