Van Gerwen & Smith into World Championship final

Michael van Gerwen won the first of his three world titles in 2014

Michael van Gerwen will face England's Michael Smith in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday.

Smith overcame a stern test from Germany's Gabriel Clemens to win his semi-final 6-2 at Alexandra Palace.

Van Gerwen is chasing his fourth world title and was too good for former World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh, thrashing the Belgian 6-0.

Van den Bergh hit a 170 checkout in the opening set, but had no other answer as Van Gerwen lost only four of the 22 legs played to race into his sixth World Championship final.

The first semi-final was a much closer affair, with six of the eight sets between Smith and Clemens going to a deciding fifth leg.

Clemens beat world number one Gerwyn Price 5-1 in his quarter-final to become the first German player to reach the last four.

The 25th seed shared the opening four sets with Smith, but the St Helens-born thrower clinched the sixth set against the darts with an 83 checkout on the bull and that proved the pivotal moment.

Speaking before Van Gerwen's victory, Smith said: "Michael's the odds-on favourite, he's played really well, but everyone can have a bad game. If it's not today, hopefully it's tomorrow.

"I've not been the best apart from when I played Joe Cullen [in the last 16], but I've stepped up when I've needed to. Hopefully tomorrow I can step up again."

More to follow.