Michael Van Gerwen proved why he is the best player in the world with a 7-2 demolition of Rob Cross on night three of the Premier League in Dublin.
In a match involving the top-two ranked players, who have won the last three World Championships, Van Gerwen ran riot to remain top of the table with a 100 per cent record.
The Dutchman raced into a 6-0 lead and, although he missed two doubles for a whitewash, finished the job with a 101.34 average.
IT'S THREE IN A ROW FOR VAN GERWEN 💚 | After going 6-0 up, Cross could only muster two legs in his comeback. MvG stays unbeaten with a 7-2 win over Cross #Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/1hz7qGBA77 — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 21, 2019
Van Gerwen is two points clear of Gerwyn Price, Daryl Gurney and Peter Wright, who all came from behind to secure positive results.
James Wade let a 5-2 lead slip and, despite averaging 103.89, needed to take out 129 to claim a 6-6 draw against the unbeaten Price.
Wright responded from slipping 3-0 behind to home favourite Steve Lennon, the third contender to replace the injured Gary Anderson, to win 7-5.
And Gurney was two legs down to last year's runner-up Michael Smith, who is winless and bottom of the table, but battled hard to claim a 7-5 victory.
Raymond Van Barneveld produced another fine comeback to claim a point for the second consecutive week, fighting back from 5-1 down against Mensur Suljovic.
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