Gerwyn Price stormed to victory on a landmark weekend at the Interwetten International Darts Open in Riesa, as the Sachsenarena played host to the 100th event in PDC European Tour history.
Price overcame Michael van Gerwen in a heavyweight contest to retain his International Darts Open crown, closing out an 8-4 victory to clinch his eighth European Tour title.
He also claimed the spoils at the European Darts Open a week earlier, and the Welshman’s latest triumph saw him overhaul Peter Wright to become the second most successful player in European Tour history.
Van Gerwen’s European Tour dominance remains unparalleled however, with the Dutch superstar scooping an astonishing 35 titles since the tour’s inception in 2012 – more than a third of the total events played!
The three-time World Champion celebrated his first of those wins at the 2013 European Darts Open in Dusseldorf, with his most prolific campaign seeing him lift eight titles from the 13 events in 2018.
The trio of Van Gerwen, Price and Wright account for exactly half of the titles won on the European Tour, with World Champion Michael Smith in fourth spot on the all-time list with five honours.
Yet remarkably, Van Gerwen and Price’s showdown on Sunday was their first in a European Tour final, despite 53 of the previous 99 finals featuring one of big-name duo.
There have been 32 different winners on the European Tour since the inaugural event took place in April 2012, which saw Justin Pipe beat James Wade to lift the Austrian Darts Open title in Wiener Neustadt.
Michael Smith and Simon Whitlock both landed nine-dart finishes across a landmark three days at Arena Nova, and both men were also in action in Riesa over the weekend.
They were two of 12 players that competed in the first and 100th European Tour events, in a list which also includes Van Gerwen, Wright and five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.
Dave Chisnall, Joe Cullen and Ian White – all of whom boast multiple European Tour titles - also appeared in both events, alongside Ross Smith, Kim Huybrechts, Brendan Dolan and Richie Burnett.
Despite only featuring sporadically on the European Tour prior to his retirement, 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor won all four finals he competed in, with his last success coming at the 2016 Austrian Darts Open.
More recently, Luke Humphries joined Van Gerwen and Wright in becoming only the third player to claim four European Tour titles in a calendar year, following a breakthrough 2022 campaign which saw him claim titles in Munich, Prague, Stuttgart and Trier.
Austrian veteran Mensur Suljovic also boasts a hat-trick of European Tour victories on his résumé, with Wade and Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts on two wins apiece.
The global growth of the sport has been evidenced by the variety of title winners on the European Tour, with 13 different nationalities represented on the honours list.
Poland’s number one Krzysztof Ratajski, South African star Devon Petersen and Portuguese trailblazer Jose de Sousa have all joined the winner’s circle since 2019 – the first players from their respective countries to do so.
Nine countries have hosted European Tour events, with Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic joining established nations Germany, Austria and Netherlands as regular destinations.
Gibraltar, England and Denmark have also previously staged tournaments - with further growth across the Continent likely in future years.