European Darts Trophy: Michael van Gerwen beats Rob Cross to claim his 13th title of the season

12:05 · MON October 16, 2017

Michael van Gerwen bounced back to top form after a disappointing few weeks as he won his 13th PDC title of the season by defeating Rob Cross 6-4 in the European Darts Trophy final.

Since beating rising star Cross in his last final appearance at the German Darts Grand Prix last month, the world number one has endured two disappointing outings on the major televised stage; first suffering a group-stage exit at the Champions League of Darts before being stunned by John Henderson on the opening night of the World Grand Prix.

But van Gerwen stormed back to winning ways in Goettingen as he successfully defended his trophy - and a 20th career European Tour crown - thanks to a hard-fought triumph over the Englishman which capped off a day of superb performances.

Having seen off Austria's Zoran Lerchbacher comfortably enough in his opening match on Saturday night, MVG then brushed aside Stephen Bunting 6-1 in Sunday afternoon's third round before crushing Joe Cullen 6-0 in the quarter-finals with an average of 103.66.

The best was yet to come as he produced a sizzling display to thrash World Grand Prix runner-up Simon Whitlock 6-1 as he averaged over 110, hit four 180s and hit six of his seven attempts at doubles.

Although he couldn't match the same levels in the final, he still managed showstopping checkouts of 160 and 150 - the latter putting him 5-3 up - to see off the brave resistance of Cross, who was bidding for his maiden European Tour title.

The former electrician, who has won four Players Championship titles in an impressive debut season on the PDC circuit, has earlier beaten Keegan Brown 6-2, Michael Smith 6-3 and Kim Huybrechts 6-1 as he reached his second final on the European Tour.

Success for MVG means he tops the European Tour Order of Merit and that gives him top seeding ahead of Peter Wright, who could have denied him this weekend, at the European Championship in Hasselt, Belgium from October 26-29.

That major is just one of the five televised title he's defending in a hectic schedule that also includes the World Series of Darts Finals, Grand Slam of Darts, Players Championship Finals and, of course, the World Championship.

You can back van Gerwen at 8/11 with Sky Bet to defend his World Championship title while the Dutchman is 4/5 favourite to triumph in next weekend's inaugural German Darts Masters.

He told the PDC: "I'm very happy to have won this tournament and I felt great all weekend. I decided to take a holiday after losing in Dublin and it paid off. I feel refreshed and ready for the big part of the season - that started with winning this tournament.

"Rob has had a great season but I always feel confident against whoever I play and they know it is a different game against me. I pulled out some big shots at the right times and that is why I won the final."