Raymond van Barneveld claimed the European Darts Open title on Sunday night, crowning a superb weekend of darts at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf with a 6-4 defeat of Dave Chisnall in the final.
The popular Dutchman took the £15,000 first prize in the third of the PDC's European Tour events, culminating a series of fine displays with a hard earned victory over form horse Dave Chisnall in front of an 1,800 strong crowd.
The five-time World Champion followed up his earlier wins over Ian White and Brendan Dolan with victories against Gino Vos, James Wade, Richie Burnett and Chisnall to capture the title and head into the World Matchplay in the best way possible.
After defeating young Dutchman Vos 6-2 in Sunday afternoon's third round, Barney repeated the scoreline in the quarter-finals as he came from 2-0 down to defeat world number three Wade by winning six successive legs.
Van Barneveld then defeated former Lakeside Champion Burnett 6-4 in the semis, and won the final by the same scoreline.
The final oozed quality and it was Barneveld who took command with a 136 checkout in taking an early 3-1 lead; he landed four 180s in the game before sealing victory in style with an 11-dart finish.
"I'm really pleased and happy that I won this tournament," said van Barneveld. "This is a big achievement for me.
"Dave is really playing well at the moment and I'm so happy. I said in January that I was going to play in every tournament and see what happens, and so far I'm doing really well.
"It seems so long ago for me since I won a 'major' tournament and for me this was a major because you had a big crowd and fantastic players."
He added: "I'm going to go away now and practice every day for the next two weeks building up to the World Matchplay, and hopefully I can do well there."
Chisnall's run saw him reach a second successive European Tour final, continuing his rampant tour form and furthering his reputation as one of the game's hottest properties.
The St Helens ace lost to Phil Taylor in the German Darts Championship final in Berlin a fortnight ago but could not go one step further at the second time of asking.
He defeated Mark Dudbridge 6-2 in the third round before seeing off Simon Whitlock in a deciding leg in the quarter-finals, and then overcame Mervyn King 6-3 in the semis as he took home £7,500.
Welsh legend Burnett rolled back the years with some brilliant performances in Dusseldorf, defeating youngsters Michael van Gerwen and James Hubbard on Sunday to win through to the semis, where he picked up £5,000 in prize money.
King's run to the semis included victories against Steve Beaton and Colin Osborne on Sunday, as he defeated the latter in the quarter-finals with a 105 average, and he moves back up to 18th in the PDC Order of Merit following the tournament.
PDC World Youth Champion James Hubbard's achievement in reaching the quarter-finals also saw him claim a qualifying place in the Betfair World Matchplay, as he defeated Mark Walsh in the third round on Sunday afternoon in an emotional encounter.
Osborne also secured a coveted Blackpool spot in the final tournament before the qualifying cut-off, and he was joined in losing at the quarter-final stage by Wade and Whitlock.
The next European Tour event will be held in Sindelfingen, Stuttgart, from September 7-9. Attention now turns to the upcoming
Betfair World Matchplay, the highlight of the darting summer schedule, held at the Winter Gardens from July 21-29.
European Darts Open - European Tour Event Three Results
Sunday July 8
Quarter-Finals
Mervyn King 6-2 Colin Osborne
Simon Whitlock 5-6 Dave Chisnall
James Wade 2-6 Raymond van Barneveld
James Hubbard 2-6 Richie Burnett
Semi-Finals
Mervyn King 3-6 Dave Chisnall
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Richie Burnett
Final
Dave Chisnall 4-6 Raymond van Barneveld
