Michael van Gerwen ends year-long wait for European Tour title at the Belgian Darts Open
Michael van Gerwen claimed his first European Tour title for 12 months at the Belgian Darts Open with an 8-6 victory over Luke Humphries in the final.
The Dutch superstar roared back to winning ways by securing the £30,000 top prize in front of a sell-out crowd at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze.
The victory marks his 36th European Tour title and sees him leapfrog Peter Wright into the world number two spot.
A significant Sunday evening saw Van Gerwen avenge his recent Semi-Final whitewash to Josh Rock at the Austrian Open with a superb 7-3 win at the same stage of the competition.
Mighty Mike also saw off Martin Schindler in a dramatic Third Round contest earlier in the day which went to a deciding leg, before thrashing an out of sorts Gary Anderson 6-1 in the Quarter-Finals.
The final saw Van Gerwen surge to victory from 5-4 down with three straight legs to take command before pinning double 16 to take the crown.
“It means a lot to me,” said Van Gerwen. “You have to defeat really good dart players – Gary Anderson, Josh Rock and in the final someone who is always good on the Euro Tour – Luke Humphries.
“I knew that if I won today I’d be above Peter Wright in the world rankings and of course that’s really important.
“You always have to give 100% and that’s what I do all the time. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but I’m a fighter and I never give up, and I keep fighting until the end.
“That’s what I did today and that’s why I won, and it’s really good for myself.”
The opening ten legs of the final all went with throw, with Humphries twice missing chances to break and also agonisingly missing double 12 for a nine-darter in leg six – returning to take that leg in ten darts.
Van Gerwen followed up a 129 checkout in leg ten with the first break of throw in the next, stepping in on double 16 after Humphries missed double six.
Two further misses from Humphries were punished as Van Gerwen moved 7-5 up, and though a missed match dart allowed the world number six to keep the tie alive, his rival sealed the deal on double 16.
The defeat for Humphries was his third in a Euro Tour final this year, having lost out twice previously to Dave Chisnall.
He edged out Belgium’s Andy Baetens in a thrilling Last 16 tie to open Sunday’s action, and after seeing off Nathan Aspinall in the Quarter-Finals he survived a missed match dart from Dirk van Duijvenbode in a high-quality Semi-Final.
“I don’t feel disappointed, I think I played well,” said Humphries. “I played an A+ Michael van Gerwen and you can’t make a mistake. I did in a couple of legs, I missed a dart here and there and I got punished.
“I thought I played a good game but a couple of mistakes cost me and if I’d took those finishes out I probably would have won.
“It was a closely-contested game, it was nip and tuck and he pulled out the good legs at the end. I was proud of myself the way I played, but the better player won in the end.
“Obviously, it’s always disappointing to lose but I’ll get that title this year soon, I’m sure. I’ve run into three brilliant performances in the final, but it’s coming.”
Van Duijvenbode was denied a spot in his second Euro Tour final of the year in agonising fashion, missing a match dart for a 7-5 win before Humphries took out 81 on the bull in the deciding leg.
The Dutchman had proven too strong for Matt Campbell and Jonny Clayton earlier in the day as he secured a spot in a third Euro Tour Semi-Final of the season.
Rock produced outstanding displays in his wins over reigning champion Chisnall and World Champion Michael Smith to book his spot in a second European Tour Semi-Final of 2023, only for MVG to avenge his brutal defeat a fortnight ago.
Anderson was a quarter-finalist in his second event after returning to the European Tour, defeating Rob Cross 6-2 in Round Three before losing out to Van Gerwen with an average of just 81.8.
Chisnall’s title defence was ended by Rock as he succumbed to a 104 average from the Northern Irish youngster in Sunday afternoon’s Third Round, shattering the Englishman’s hopes of a third European Tour title of the campaign.
Belgian Darts Open 2023 Day Three Results
Sunday May 7
Afternoon Session
Last 16
Luke Humphries 6-5 Andy Baetens
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Danny Noppert
Damon Heta 3-6 Jonny Clayton
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Matt Campbell
Dave Chisnall 4-6 Josh Rock
Michael Smith 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Martin Schindler
Rob Cross 2-6 Gary Anderson
Evening Session
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Jonny Clayton 4-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Josh Rock 6-1 Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Gary Anderson
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 7-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen 7-3 Josh Rock
Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-6 Luke Humphries
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