Even though the fans choose Gary Anderson, Michael van Gerwen won PDC Player of the Year.
Last night the annual PDC Awards was being held in London, at the Dorchester. As always, there were eight prices to hand out.
Michael van Gerwen won the biggest of them all, when he won the PDC Player of the Year, for the fourth year in a row. He also won the ProTour Player of the Year, because of his magnificent run on the non-televised tour. After the announcements Michael van Gerwen said:
“To win these two awards is a phenomenal achievement, along with winning my third World Championship a few weeks ago,” said Van Gerwen.
“Other players are getting better and better every week so I have to be at my best all the time. I love playing darts and I’m going to come back even stronger next year.
The PDPA Player of the Year was Michael Smith. Smith had a great season, in which his two biggest achievements were the finals in the Premier League and the World Championship.
Gary Anderson became also a Player of the Year, as he won the Fans’ Player of the Year. With his wins in the UK Open and World Matchplay, it was well-deserved.
The Televised Performance of the Year was handed out to Daryl Gurney, for his win against Michael van Gerwen in the Players Championship Finals final. With a fantastic 11-9 win, he grabbed his second major tournament win.
“Around a year ago I was questioning whether I could still play at the top level, but that Players Championship Finals win showed I can still do it,” Gurney said to the pdc.tv afterwards.
Max Hopp became the Young Player of the Year, after a good season, in which he won the German Open, and broke into the top 32 on the Order of Merit for the first time.
Luke Humphries became the Best Newcomer. It was especially his magnificent run at the World Championship, that secured him the title.
“This is a massive award and shows how far I have come over the last year,” said Humphries.
“To beat the reigning World Champion at Alexandra Palace was unreal for me and now my goal is to carry on my development and continue to make a name for myself.”
And last, but not least, the former World Champion Rod Harrington was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame.
At this big event there was also a name from the PDC Nordic & Baltic among, as Dennis Nilsson had secured a Silver Pin for his 9-darter on the Challenge Tour.
2019 PDC Annual Awards
ProTour Player of the Year
Winner: Michael van Gerwen
Best Newcomer
Winner: Luke Humphries
Televised Performance of the Year
Winner: Daryl Gurney (Players Championship Finals Final v Michael van Gerwen)
Fans’ Player of the Year
Winner: Gary Anderson
PDPA Players’ Player of the Year
Winner: Michael Smith
Young Player of the Year
Winner: Max Hopp
PDC Hall of Fame Inductee
Rod Harrington – PDC Director and two-time World Matchplay Champion
Player of the Year
Winner: Michael van Gerwen
PDC Nine-Dart Club
Gold Pins: Gary Anderson, Dimitri Van den Bergh
Silver Pins: Robbie Green, Ian White, Michael van Gerwen (x3), Peter Jacques, John Goldie, Cameron Menzies, Jamie Lewis, Noel Malicdem, Steve Hine, Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall, Dawson Murschell, Dennis Nilsson, Lee Turle, Simon Preston, Adrian Lewis, Vincent van der Voort, James Wade, Krzysztof Ratajski, Rowby-John Rodriguez, George Killington, Peter Hudson, Andrew Gilding, Jimmy Hendriks, Eddie Lovely