Michael van Gerwen (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

European Darts Matchplay 2018: MVG wins 15th title of 2018 by defeating William O'Connor

Darts

Mon July 02, 2018 · 6y ago

MVG won his 15th PDC title of 2018 by defeating William O'Connor 8-2 in the European Darts Matchplay final in Hamburg.

A day after hitting the first nine-dart finish on the European Tour in five years (click here to watch) in a second-round victory over Ryan Joyce, the rampant world number one backed it up in emphatic fashion by winning four more matches to clinch yet another winners' cheque of £25,000.

He beat Robert Thornton 6-1, Ian White 6-4 and Stephen Bunting 7-4 to book his place in the final, where he averaged 105 in a crushing triumph over O'Connor, who was playing in his first European Tour final.

The Dutchman has now triumphed in six of this season's nine European Tour events - taking his career tally to 26 -
while it's also his 15th title overall in 2018, including last month's World Cup of Darts success with Raymond van Barneveld.

Van Gerwen, who now has 109 career singles titles to his name at the age of 29, is on course to break his personal record of winning 26 tournaments in a calendar year that he set in 2016.

"I am delighted to win this trophy and I'm pleased with how I played this weekend," said Van Gerwen, who has lost just two matches on the European Tour in 2018.

"Of course, it’s always hard to win titles like this but you need to have a strong mindset to beat these top players.

"It was a great feeling to hit the nine-darter in front of such a great crowd – it’s been well overdue on the European Tour and I’m glad it was me who hit it."

O'Connor's impressive run to his first ever PDC ranking final saw the Republic of Ireland World Cup of Darts star record impressive victories over Martin Atkins, World Champion Rob Cross, Kim Huybrechts, Mensur Suljovic and Andy Boulton.

The Hamburg event was also a significant one for Boulton, who won through to his first ever European Tour semi-final, and for Bunting, who reached his first semi-final on the continent in almost two years.