Fallon Sherrock became the first woman to reach the final of a televised PDC event as she conjured a remarkable comeback to beat Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Already the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship, Sherrock may have topped that achievement in rallying from 7-1, 8-2 and 10-6 down to stun the Belgian 11-10.
Three 100-plus checkouts and seven 180s to Van den Bergh's four helped Sherrock turn the match around, though the Belgian will regret missing eight attempts at match dart.
Sherrock's reward was a meeting with Michael van Gerwen in the final on Saturday night and after leading early on, she eventually succumbed to the Dutchman who ran out an 11-7 winner.
It was van Gerwen's first title of 2021 and he was visibly both relieved and emotional at having fought back from 6-3 down as Sherrock came up one win short.
Stunning fightback from superstar Sherrock
Having been handed a bye into the semi-finals following the withdrawal of Gerwyn Price, Sherrock's wait looked to have been worthwhile as the took the first leg, but soon after Van den Bergh set about taking control of the match.
First he levelled in just 11 darts, then breaking throw after Sherrock missed three darts to hold, before the first maximum of the match helped him into a 3-1 lead.
Four more misses from Sherrock and another 11-darter from her opponent saw the gap widen to six legs and while Sherrock stopped the rot with an 11-darter of her own, Van den Bergh was back in control at 8-2.
The turnaround began with a 106 finish from Sherrock and she was within four at 9-5 after the first real signs of nerves appeared in Van den Bergh's doubles.
Finishes of 92 and 89 got Sherrock within two and the gap was down to one when, after the Belgian missed double seven for the match, she hit double four with her final dart in hand.
By this point Van den Bergh was visibly struggling but he was down to 86 with darts in hand before Sherrock had cracked 300 in the next, only for the latter to throw 100, 100 and then take out 101 after he'd missed four more for the match.
Sherrock then faced the prospect of throwing for a place in the final and kicked off the deciding leg with her seventh maximum, finishing the job in style with a 100 finish.
