Dusseldorf Delight For van Gerwen

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN secured his 12th career European Tour title and fourth of 2016 by edging out Peter Wright 6-5 in a superb final of the HappyBet European Darts Open in Dusseldorf, Germany.

The world number one finished a day that included two missed attempts at double 12 for nine-dart finishes in style, as he beat Wright with an average of 104.06 in front another sell-out crowd at the Maritim Hotel.

After opening his challenge in Dusseldorf with a whitewash of Jamie Caven on Saturday, van Gerwen began the final day with a 6-2 victory over Australia's Kyle Anderson.

Van Gerwen - last weekend's BetVictor World Matchplay champion - was ruthless in victory against Anderson, including a crowd-pleasing 131 finish of treble 17 and two double tops.

He then went on to defeat Jelle Klaasen 6-4 in the quarter-finals and Kim Huybrechts 6-3 in the semi-finals, coming agonisingly close to a nine-darter in each game.

In a thrilling final against Wright, the number one seed marched in to a 3-1 lead before missing two darts to go within two of victory.

Wright, who averaged over 100 himself, levelled the score at 3-3 before van Gerwen pounced to hold and then break again.

The Scot showed real strength though as he broke the van Gerwen throw and took the match in to a deciding leg.

A 140 and a 180, followed by a 98 checkout for an 11-darter secured the title for the world number one, who was delighted to claim his 13th tournament win of 2016.

"You always have to play well against Peter," said the 27 year-old. "I'm trying my best, this is fantastic as it is one of my favourite venues on the European Tour."

Van Gerwen’s opponent in the final, Peter Wright was arguably more impressive on his way to meeting the the Dutchman.

The Scot first knocked out Gerwyn Price 6-2 before going on to hand Mensur Suljovic a devastating 6-0 whitewash.

Wright’s semi-final opponent was Stephen Bunting - who had reached his first European Tour semi-final since 2014 by beating Michael Smith and Terry Jenkins on his way to the last four.

The world number five was too strong for Bunting though, securing a 6-4 victory with an average of over 100.

Wright, the winner of this competition in Dusseldorf in 2014, said he was satisfied with his weekends work after surviving four missed match darts from Steve West in round two.

"Sometimes you need a bit of luck and I got that against Steve West," he said. "I got five legs against the world number one, I’m proud of myself."

The European Tour continues in Riesa, Germany from September 2-4 with the HappyBet International Darts Open. For ticket information for PDC European Tour events, visit www.pdc-europe.tv.

Full results and statistics from all of today’s matches are available below.

HappyBet European Darts Open
Sunday July 31
Afternoon Session
Third Round
Michael Smith 3-6 Stephen Bunting
Ian White 5-6 Terry Jenkins
Daryl Gurney 3-6 Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Jan Dekker 0-6 Gary Anderson
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Wes Newton
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 James Wade
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Kyle Anderson

Evening Session
Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Mensur Suljovic 0-6 Peter Wright
Gary Anderson 4-6 Kim Huybrechts
Jelle Klaasen 4-6 Michael van Gerwen

Semi-Finals
Stephen Bunting 4-6 Peter Wright
Kim Huybrechts 3-6  Michael van Gerwen

Final
Peter Wright 5-6 Michael van Gerwen

Watch The Final


Match Stats
Third Round

Final