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That went down as the 2nd best match I've ever seen!!! Right behind the Premier League final when Taylor almost hit 3 9 darters. The match tonight had me jumping up and down when MvG 1st broke the throw. Than the 130 out was over the top. Sure, Taylor has been beat before... but never when he was averaging almost 110. As Mardle said, MvG did to Taylor as he's done to everyone for years. Don't think "The Power" liked it either.
If Mighty Mike can continue this form than we will see a changing of the guard. It's going to take a huge effort to stop him.

Although.... a lot can be said about the Taylor curse!!!! We'll see what happens next round. Scotty is no pushover. Almost an equally good match with him and Thornton.

Well done, MVG!!!

Well done mitey mike....he only started winning big games after I had words at the grand prix I had him at -2.5 the nite, along with winstanley -2.5 , waites to win and the king let me down......oh well, ill have to teach him next

Let's not forget though.....

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MVG is defo the inform player at the moment.

His game tonight was simply awesome. He didnt let up the pressure and it got to Taylor.

We all know Taylor has another gear he could go up usually, but I dont think he was at his peak tonight and he paid the price.

I think if Taylor had of thrown a 110 ave, MVG would have bettered it, thats how well he played tonight.

Id love to see that is it in the arcives?

Was a great display by MVG, Taylor was rattled for sure. If MVG plays like that at Ally Pally he should win it.

It was a brilliant display - doing to Taylor what he has been doing to others for several years now and he didn't like it one little bit. MVG is now showing all the potential he had from when he switched over - hopefully he can take it to the next level and win a few of the biggies and break into the top 10 and the Premier League. It would be awesome to see him in that.

WOW indeed MvG! Absolutely fantastic but yet again Taylor proved what a bad sport he is....in my opinion!!

great game mvg hope goes thought takes the lot out as for taylor just think mvg better player at the time taylor still got what it takes 105 ave isnt to be sneezed at
the one that has shock is painter beating king

Van Gerwen showed a brilliant display of darts, and everything Taylor score, Van Gerwen scored the same of better!

What a great game it was!!!

And even though Taylor started doing mindgames so did MVG keep his head cool and got on to keep scoring and finally win the games!! He showed that he can play even when others try and get an unfair advantage!

And as the commentators said. That if Taylor has the right to do what MVG did, then MVG has the same right

Damn that was a lovely sight!!! And the game after that was great also We was a bit spoiled yesterday. How can todays game live up to that?

I reckon Scotty waites could beat MVG and then win the whole thing. Said Scotty from the word go but didn't put it on my dream team....

As much as I think that Taylor is a bit up his own arse I have to defend him a little as he has set the standard for a long time nearly 20 years and it has taken this long for the rest to catch him up. I find him a little arrogant having met him a few times but haven't we made him that way as we put him on a pedestal for most of his career and he has been shunted in and out of exhibitions by his minders and has not really socialised too well with his fans. He has also won everything there is going so has not really tasted that bitter taste of defeat very often. I am not his greatest fan but admire and respect what he has done for the sport so I can see why he is not such a great loser as he hasn't practised it much. He has got away with murder for a long time so now he may have to start being a better loser as I think his time is up and he will lose more games now and i would hate it if he was despised by all and remembered for being a bad loser after all his hard work for 20 odd years.

He reminds me of the Staffy (Staffordshire Bull Terrier) who happily plays in it's yard at home for many years minding it's own business being the loving and tender dog to all it's family then one day it escapes from the yard and bites another dog and mutilates it in the street as it has not been socialised properly. The newsreaders say it's a bad breed and should be put down, I say it's the owners fault and they should be fined for not doing more social activities with the dog so it knew how to behave out of it's comfort zone. Blame his management team as Taylor is that Staffy.

Just a shame Sid isn't with us anymore, I think the commentary for this game would have been crazy!!

I keep hearing how Taylor is a "bad sport" and a "bad loser," and someone even said he was playing mind games up there against MVG. Can you guys give me an example of how he was a bad sport during that game? I'm not trying to be an arse or anything, I am genuinely curious! It seemed to me that he showed up, played well, got beat, shook hands and walked off just like anyone else. I didn't see any glaring examples of bad sportsmanship.

I didn't really see it either John. I'm not a Taylor fan at all (or MVG) but I just thought it was a good match and there was nobody playing any "games"

Exactly. That was a quality match by both players
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In fact, the only things I saw at all that could be considered "mind games" were by MVG: the aggressive staredown that he have Phil at the beginning handshake, and the big celebrations after every good throw! But I don't think even that crossed the line into bad sportsmanship.

Just to be clear, I'm not a Phil Taylor fan at all - I was cheering for him to get beat the whole way! And I've heard plenty of stories of him being kind of an arse in a personal sense. But I really see nothing but professionalism from him when he's on the oche. Or at least, he doesn't come across as any LESS professional than most of the other PDC players.

I agree with JohnK

It was an absolutely fantastic game. To see Taylor play like that and lose by that margin, was something I have never really seen before.

MvG showed not only great skill, but also confidence, composure and a great nerve!

Now, I can't wait to see the game against Scotty, could be another stunner!

Interesting. I didn't see that part yesterday. Thanks!

JohnK wrote:

Interesting. I didn't see that part yesterday. Thanks!

I made my own video. Here, it's better in English....

that really not much IMO.

If that's being a bad sport you can call me tennis lol

Barking at someone for doing nothing wrong is okay, just because you are being handed a good one?

that makes 98% of dart players bad sports then including myself cause that is pretty light IMO

I agree, Winmau, that is a really petty way to deal with being beaten, and that has made me change my tune about Taylor a bit.

But to be fair, if someone in league were to stare me down the way MVG did to Taylor at the opening handshake, I'd want to punch him in the face!

In all fairness to everybody it's almost like all of us talking about what it would be like to be a billionaire.

We've all had money before, and maybe even made some large purchases. But we've never had millions to burn through.

Same can be said for darts and this match. We've all played darts. Maybe some of us have had some big matches. Maybe even made a few bucks.

But NONE of us have been on stage throwing 105+ average with that much on the line. We can only speculate what we might do or even what we "think" is right or wrong.

Taylor has been losing some big matches this year and we've all seen how he reacts when he gets behind or loses. Rushes right off stage without a word. But he seems to expect the players he beats to hang out, have a laugh, and sign a dartboard.

Can't have it both ways.

I don't have to speculate, I know what I would do if someone celebrated like that after every throw/leg. I wouldn't be allowed back in any league in my state for sure, and thats pub darts which is supposed to be for fun. So for that reaction from Taylor although it may be bad he still showed some restraint IMO.

It's never fun to get lit up in a game, and then for someone to just grind it in like he does. Thats why i don't care for either player they both do it. It's fun to watch them lose.

Well, however I feel about these two guys and the way the conduct themselves on the oche, I have to say that it is really great to see another play finally rise up and challenge Phil Taylor.

Personally, I would love for MvG to stay in form like this. Maybe someone showing that the great one is beatable will inspire a few others to work a bit harder to raise their game to that level. And it wouldn't be bad for the sport to develop a little rivalry at the top!