Darts World Matchplay 2015: Final Results, Standings, Prize Money and Reaction

Michael van Gerwen beat James Wade 18-12 in Sunday's final to win the 2015 Darts World Matchplay tournament, his first-ever triumph at Winter Gardens.

The Order of Merit leader produced some of his finest darts to build a three-leg lead midway through the match and easily controlled the Machine from that point forward before racing to the title in the final legs. Mighty Mike will bag a cool £100,000 for his efforts, per Darts Database, while Wade will have to settle for half of that.    

Here's a look at the full prize money info:

Michael van Gerwen	£100,000
James Wade	£50,000
Phil Taylor, Peter Wright	£27,000
Ian White, Gerwyn Price, Dave Chisnall, Mensur Suljovic	£17,500
Last 16	£10,000
Last 32	£6,000

Wade came into the final with plenty of momentum after dispatching of Phil Taylor on Saturday, and as the last man to win this tournament before the Power started his incredible unbeaten streak at Winter Gardens in 2008, he must have felt confident about his chances to beat the world No. 1.

Van Gerwen immediately broke throw in the first leg, but the two were evenly matched in the early goings. The Machine didn't look particularly sharp with his doubles, as evidenced by his six misses before bagging the ninth leg, per Live Darts:

Wade did a great job containing Van Gerwen's explosive scoring until the 12th leg, when the Dutchman took out a magnificent 127 to draw level. The incredible checkout launched Van Gerwen on a great run that saw him win the next three frames as well, taking out 144 to lead by three, per PDC Darts:

The Machine was in serious trouble now, and the intervals weren't much of a help. Mighty Mike carried his momentum into the dressing room every single time, creeping ever further away from Wade.

His average started to rise, but Van Gerwen's work on the doubles in particular made the difference. By contrast, nothing seemed to work for Wade, who found the iron with several of his doubles.

Van Gerwen finished tops to move within one leg of winning his maiden World Matchplay title, and while Wade managed to pull one leg back, the Dutchman sealed the deal in the 30th leg:

As shared by Live Darts, Van Gerwen described what winning the title meant to him:

Wade acknowledged Van Gerwen was simply the better player on Sunday, although he believed he could have done better:

Mighty Mike finished the match with an average just a shade under 100, almost 10 points more than Wade, who just couldn't hit his usual level. Van Gerwen hit 40 percent of his doubles, while the Machine had to settle for 36 percent. 

In a way, it's fitting that Van Gerwen took top honours at the 2015 World Matchplay tournament, the year Taylor's reign of terror at Winter Gardens finally came to an end. The latter is regarded as perhaps the best player the sport has ever seen, while Van Gerwen is the most exciting talent to surface in years. 

Mighty Mike is the obvious heir to Taylor, who draws ever closer to the end of his incredible career, and the 2015 World Matchplay championship almost felt like some kind of passing of the torch. Van Gerwen may never dominate the sport the way Taylor did because of the increased competition, but expect him to be the most feared darter in the world for years to come.

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