But let's not end with a note on the Premier League. Instead we'll sign off with the greatest star of darts celebrating the moment he reached the pinnacle of the sport for the third time...
As is traditional, PDC chairman Barry Hearn has revealed the Premier League Darts line-up for the 2019 season. There were no real surprises with Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, Daryl Gurney, Gerwyn Price, Mensur Suljovic, James Wade, Michael Smith and Raymond van Barneveld getting the nod.
The inclusion of Barney will polarise opinion considering his 2018 form certainly doesn't deserve a spot but he is retiring next year and he does sell a lot of tickets! Apart from that there can be no real debate although the likes of Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock, Dave Chisnall and youngsters like Dimitri van den Bergh had claims.
Averages
180s
Doubles
Highest Checkouts
Averages
180s
Doubles
Highest Checkouts
Averages
180s
Doubles
Highest Checkouts
Averages
180s
Doubles
Highest Checkouts
Averages
180s
Doubles
Highest Checkouts
Averages
180s
Doubles
Highest Checkouts
Leg Five
No mistake from MVG this time as he wins the deciding leg, which started with an opening visit of 177, by taking out 24 for a 14-darter, with Smith waiting to come back on 58. Van Gerwen has now won all the first sets he's played in this tournament and eight of the 12 deciding legs he's contested.
MVG 3-2 Smith
Leg Four
We're going all the way in this opening set as Smith once again punishes van Gerwen for a missed dart to win the set - this time at double tops - as he pins double three for a 14-darter.
MVG 2-2 Smith
Leg Three
The pair trade 180s at the start of this leg but it goes the way of Smith who takes out 90 on the bullseye for a 15-darter after spurned an attempt at double four.
MVG 2-1 Smith
Leg Two
Maximum machine Michael Smith fires his first of what will be many 180s tonight but he blows a dart at double for a 70 checkout as MVG returns to pin double 13 for a 13-dart break of throw.
MVG 2-0 Smith
Leg One, MVG to throw first
Wow, what a start! Michael van Gerwen edges ahead with a 15 darter which was completed by a 129 checkout on the bullseye!
MVG 1-0 Smith
2020: Michael Smith makes his way to the stage to the tune that will also be the soundtrack of his walk down the aisle on his wedding day on Saturday...if he wins tonight. Michael van Gerwen follows with a few boos but that's no surprise given who the crowd will mostly be supporting the St Helens man.
2015: If you'd rather take prediction advice off a top player rather than me, then look no further than Gary Anderson. "If Michael Smith goes up there and plays how he did on Sunday then we're going to have a new World Champion. I think Van Gerwen is in for a hard time if Smith plays his best game, both Nathan and Michael Smith were absolutely fantastic in their game. I wouldn't say Van Gerwen was brilliant in our game, he had a really easy night's work but I think he's up against it in the final."
Then again, he is the long-term mentor of Bully Boy so he was always going to say that!
2010: As we await the players to make their way out to stage, here's some suggested bets I picked out in my pre-final guide - which you can still read by clicking here.
All those bets can be found at Sky Bet by .
2005: Amazing to think Michael van Gerwen one headed to Alexandra Palace with doubts raised over his dominance despite winning 18 individual titles in 2018, including the Premier League, Masters and the World Grand Prix. To be fair it all stemmed from him 'failing' to win the UK Open Finals, World Matchplay, Champions League of Darts, Grand Slam of Darts, European Championship, World Series of Darts Finals and the Players Championship Finals - and that's quite a long list considering how many of those he usually keeps for himself!
The gap between him and the rest has seemed to close but it's only made him hungrier in his quest to win a third world title and pocket that incredible prize of £500,000.
Meanwhile, Michael Smith arrived here with a lot of expectations to prove he can fulfil his rich potential on the biggest stage having promised so much in his career so far.
The 28-year-old from St Helens, who claimed three PDC titles in 2018, has never won a major but came mightily close at the recent World Series of Darts Finals, where he missed match darts against James Wade. Will he be able to handle the pressure if the same situation comes his way tonight?
1955: Time to reflect on their head-to-head records - and particularly their meetings in 2018.
On paper nobody has a great record against Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith is no different. However their two televised meetings since the one-sided Premier League final should fill Bully Boy backers with hope. Not only did he defeat MVG en route to clinching his first senior televised title at the Shanghai Masters but he came agonisingly close to doing the same at the Grand Slam of Darts. He missed a dart at tops for a 160 checkout when trailing 9-8 and went on to lose 10-8.
For those interested, their other three meetings on television came in the 2016 Premier League (MVG winning 7-1), the 2016 Masters (MVG winning 10-3) and the 2015 Grand Slam of Darts semi-finals (MVG winning 16-6). But I personally don't think any of those have relevance now.
1930: For those of you who like darts statistics (who doesn't?), here's the crucial ones...
TOURNAMENT STATS (MVG first)
As you can see, Michael Smith isn't far off MVG at all and he bosses the 180s count and the 100+ checkouts although the latter is a little misleading considering he hit an incredible five in his last match. Very rarely have either lost their throw before now which is testament to how they've cruised through the rounds with the minimum of fuss overall.
1915: Now here's Michael van Gerwen's route to the final...
The beer throwing incident overshadowed his opening win but he still won pretty comfortably before routing Max Hopp and Adrian Lewis, neither of whom did too much wrong. Van Gerwen wasn't too impressed with his own display against debutant Ryan Joyce in the quarter-finals but it was plenty good enough to saunter through to set up what was meant to be the toughest of all matches with Gary Anderson. It was anything but.
Oh, and here's that 170 checkout he threw against Hopp in round three...
1905: Let's remind ourselves of both players' routes to the final. Starting with Michael Smith...
As you can see (or remember), he opened up with a lowish key start against Ron Meulenkamp which relied more on clinical finish rather than high scoring while he found himself in a spot of bother in round three when trailing John Henderson 2-1. But Bully Boy turned on the style to win nine of the next 10 legs to survive a scare and storm into the fourth round, where he brushed debutant Ryan Searle aside. Next up he thrashed rising star Luke Humphries with a blistering display but he upped his game further still against plucky underdog Nathan Aspinall as he fired in 17 180s - a record for a World Championship semi-final - averaged 105 and converted over 50% of his doubles. Those levels are needed again tonight.
1850: I wonder whether Michael Smith is feeling more nervous now, just over an hour before the biggest match of his life, than he will do on Saturday when he gets married to his fiancee Dagmara?! More to the point, I doubt he's pulled his weight with the last minute planning these past few weeks. He's also previously stated that if he wins he'll want to walk down the aisle with the Sid Waddell Trophy with his music playing.
1800: Don't forget there also happens to be, of course, the small matter of the 2019 Premier League Darts line-up announcement following the conclusion of the final, with 10 players earning selection.
This year is probably the toughest selection decision for the PDC and Sky Sports, with Raymond van Barneveld expected to make the cut despite his terrible 2018 due to this being his retirement year. Plus, he's obviously a crowd puller, especially for the nights in Rotterdam!
Click on the image below to check out all the dates and venues for the new season while we'll also be revealing the line-up after tonight's final.
1600: Welcome to our live coverage of tonight's PDC World Darts Championship final as the curtain comes down on what has been an enthralling tournament packed full of shocks, dramatic comebacks and underdog stories.
It's therefore slightly ironic that we have a final two that many could - and probably did - predict at the very beginning as world number one Michael van Gerwen takes on the man he defeated in the 2018 Premier League final.
MVG is hot favourite at 1/4 with Sky Bet to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the third time but don't rule out Michael Smith, who has produced some stunning darts to blaze his way through the bottom half of the draw with impressively high statistics to match.
You'll be able to find out who becomes the first world champion of 2019 with our live leg-by-leg blog later this evening but before the action gets under way at around 8pm, you can take a look through all the statistics, facts and head-to-head records I've compiled ahead of the final as well as all their routes to get here.
There's also some predictions thrown in but obviously having tipped Smith at 16/1 pre-tournament, I've got my fingers crossed he can finish the job against the odds. Why not have one more upset to fittingly end it all, eh?
Click on the image below (or here) for my full final preview while if you want to look back at all the World Championship results so far, click here!