Step up and stop me or I’ll win every tournament – Michael van Gerwen

Michael van Gerwen is targeting a clean sweep of major titles this year after adding the World Grand Prix to his collection.

The Dutchman held off a storming fightback from Nathan Aspinall to claim a 5-3 victory in the Leicester final and continue his 2022 domination, having already won the Premier League and World Matchplay.

With the European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship to come before the World Championship in December, Van Gerwen has set his sights on filling his trophy cabinet up even further.

And he has warned rivals Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright to up their games if they want to break his domination.

“If they want to win the tournaments of course they are going to have to pick up their game,” he said.

“If I keep playing like this I am going to win every tournament, that is the only thing that matters for me.

“Gerwyn Price played phenomenally to the semi-finals, he didn’t do enough against Nathan. Peter Wright has such a big mouth for the whole tournament, he never turned up against me.

“If you want to win tournaments like this you have to make sure you focus on yourself. As long as the other guys have a big mouth, I just do my job.

“I have won the three biggest tournaments this year and from here on I think there is more to come. There is plenty more to fight for and if you keep battling like I am at the moment there is a lot more to come.

“Results says I am the best player in the world, they won some tournaments at the end of the year, that is why they are high up in the rankings.

“As soon as I take the World Championship I know I am number one and I am not going to give it away. But that is up to me, I have to do it in the World Championship, that is the most important tournament of the year, especially for the ranking.”

He seemed on course for a whitewash victory against Aspinall as he led 4-0 in the first-to-five final before a battle with toilet problems saw him lose focus.

Aspinall fired off three successive sets and had the darts to level at 4-4, but Van Gerwen got over the line.

He added: “I wasn’t worried, I was looking for the toilet because I had some stomach problems. What can you do?

“At that point in the game you are hoping to make sure you keep your focus going, but it is not that easy. There are a lot of factors at play.

“I thought it was going to be a whitewash, but you have to bear in mind Nathan could come back. I am just glad I got over the line, that is all that matters to me.

“I did switch off, big time. But that is part of the game. It was regardless of what was happening in the match, I needed to have a s***, as simple as that.”

Aspinall was gracious in defeat, admitting that Van Gerwen had been the best player.

“Michael this week has been amazing, he has been back to his best,” he said in his on-stage interview.

“He is the deserved winner of the tournament this week. When I was 4-0 down I thought I’d win the next set and give him a bit of a game, I did that.

“He has been phenomenal all week, he is the deserved winner. But another final for me.”