Michael van Gerwen celebrates his victory at the European Darts Trophy (Picture: Kais Bodensieck/PDC Europe)

European Darts Trophy results: Michael van Gerwen averages 111 as he beats James Wade in the final

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Mon October 15, 2018 · 6y ago

Michael van Gerwen produced a scintillating display to beat James Wade in the European Darts Trophy final and collect his 18th individual title of the season.

The rampant world number one, who got back to winning ways in the major tournaments last weekend by defeating Peter Wright in the World Grand Prix final, averaged 111.27 in an 8-3 thumping of the Machine and finished the job in style at the Lokhalle with a 170 checkout.

In a repeat of this year's European Darts Grand Prix final in Sindelfingen, which MVG also won 8-3, the Dutchman nailed two more 100+ checkouts, hit eight of his 13 attempts at doubles and also fired in five 180s to give Wade no chance of causing a shock.

Van Gerwen, who has now won eight European Tour crowns in 2018, averaged over 100 in all of his five matches across the weekend in Gottingen, starting with a 102 in a commanding 6-2 triumph over Vincent van der Voort on Saturday night.

His five 180s helped contribute to a fine 106.46 in a hard-fought 6-4 victory over Stephen Bunting in his third-round match on Sunday afternoon before kicking-off the evening session with a 106.53 against Daryl Gurney.

In that 6-2 quarter-final triumph, MVG nailed six of his seven attempts at doubles and also took out three 100+ checkouts, including a stunning 161, as he defied Gurney's average of 107.11, six 180s and 100% checkout percentage!

The Dutchman maintained his momentum by thrashing Premier League runner-up Michael Smith 7-2 with the help of a 102 average and a 58% checkout percentage as he reached the 33rd European Tour final of his incredible career.

Victory over Wade takes his overall tournament tally in 2018 to 19 if you include the World Cup he won for the Netherlands with Raymond van Barneveld, while he now has 28 career European Tour titles to his name.

"I think I played a phenomenal tournament, you can only dream about a performance like this," Van Gerwen told www.pdc.tv. "Now I can look back on a good European Tour season for me, but I have to keep my concentration for the important tournaments coming up.

"I never get bored of winning, I want to keep going until I get to 50 European Tour titles at least!"

Wade was appearing in his fourth PDC final of the season and his second on the European Tour although defeat at the final hurdle once again means he's still searching for his first title since the 2016 European Matchplay.

The Englishman overcame Toni Alcinas 6-4 on Saturday night before recording 6-3 victories over Darren Webster and world champion Rob Cross while another impressive performance helped him see off Richard North 7-4 in the semi-finals.

"I go into every tournament expecting to do well, so I'm not surprised I made the final," said Wade. "I can't believe I played so poorly in the final but sometimes that happens, I'm sure I will be able to take the positives from this weekend over the next few days."

Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall produced the performance of the weekend from a statistical point of view as he averaged 112.7 in a thumping 6-0 third-round victory over John Henderson as he continued to show signs that he's getting back to his very best.

Chizzy's run was ended in a 'St Helens derby' against Michael Smith, who triumphed 6-2 with an impressive average of 102.78 to almost match the 103.66 he managed in a 6-0 whitewash of Steve Beaton in the previous round.

Bully Boy's run was ended in the last four by MVG as the world number one booked his place in a 33rd European Tour final.