Michael van Gerwen to end the year a PDC major champion for the 12th time after World Series of Darts Finals triumph

Michael van Gerwen will be remembered as one of the greats of darts, if not the greatest. The haul of titles he has picked up over the years has been inspirational, and at the weekend, he proved to the world that he is not finished yet.

The Dutchman overcame World Champion Luke Littler 11-7 at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam to clinch his sixth title in the tournament, and first since 2023. Coincidentally, that was his first major title since 2023, ending a drought of two years for a big TV tite. This means since 2012, he has won a major in every year he has completed on the PDC Circuit, apart from 2021 and 2024.

He first won a PDC major back in 2012, bursting on the scene as he defeated Mervin King in the final of the Grand Prix. He would follow that with his first World Championships final in 2013, losing to Phil Taylor. He swiftly got over that by extracting his revenge later that year, winning the Premier League and in the Players Championships Finals against The Power, before claiming his first World Championships title.

Things start to get a bit crazy from here. He won the World Grand Prix for the second time in 2014, along with the European Championships and World Cup for the first time. Between 2015-2017, he won everything. It is probably quicker to mention the events that he did not win in a truly dominant period from the Green Machine.

It started to slow down from 2018-2020 as the chasing pack started to close in, but he still managed to win big events. The first year he failed to win one since 2011 came in 2021, just making one final at the European Championships and having his world number one ranking swiped away, failing to finish the year at the top of the ladder for the first time since 2013.

He got back on track in 2022, surviving a scare against Joe Cullen to pick up yet another Premier League title. He won three more big TV titles that year, before picking up his seventh Premier League triumph and fifth World Series of Darts Finals win in 2023.

Van Gerwen's form started to crumble, and he went without a major for an astonishing two years. A barren 2024 resulted in two finals but no wins. He managed to reach his seventh World Championships final, but was never a match for Littler.

Now, back as a reigning champion of something, things are starting to look good for van Gerwen. Now winning a major in 12 of the last 14 years, who knows how far he will go at the pinnacle of darts.