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Austrian Darts Open results: Michael van Gerwen beats Ian White to title
Michael van Gerwen survived more than one scare to win the Austrian Darts Open, beating Ian White 8-7 in Sunday's final.
The three-time world champion combined three convincing wins with two hard-fought ones to scoop the title but only after White had taken him the distance.
Earlier, Peter Wright fought back from 3-0 and 5-3 down to force a decider, but on both occasions van Gerwen had the answers.
It was a third victory in the event for van Gerwen, who also saw off Steve Lennon, Stephen Bunting and Daryl Gurney along the way.
Against Gurney in the semi-final - a rematch of their Premier League encounter won by the Northern Irishman on Thursday - van Gerwen threw checkouts of 170 and 164 in back-to-back legs.
That level was absent through much of the final, but five maximums and a 13-dart closing leg proved enough.
Sunday's final was a repeat of last weekend's German Darts Open final, which van Gerwen had won 8-3. This time, things would be a good deal closer.
White took an early 3-1 lead as he followed up two 14-darters with a 138 checkout, only for van Gerwen to win three in a row and move 4-3 up.
The pair then traded the next four legs before a 13-dart break of throw from Van Gerwen saw him open up a 7-5 lead and move to the brink of victory.
Legs of 14 and 15 darts from White saw him take the contest all the way, but van Gerwen - with the advantage of throw - produced a timely 13-darter to secure yet another triumph.
White had followed up Saturday's win over Jamie Hughes with a big 6-1 win over Keegan Brown in round three, and landed a ten-darter during his quarter-final with Steve Beaton before sealing a 6-2 win with a 126 bullseye finish.
White then defeated James Wade 7-4 in the semi-finals, with the first eight legs being shared before the left-hander's miss at tops, for a 160 finish in leg nine, allowed him in for a key 11-darter before he pulled clear.
Wade's run to the semi-finals surpassed his quarter-final appearance in March's European Darts Open, as he defeated Premier League rivals Mensur Suljovic and Gerwyn Price on Sunday.
He was eventually undone by White, who punished a key miss at tops to complete a 160 finish in leg nine - with the scores locked at 4-4 - to break with an 11-darter before pulling away for victory.
Gurney saw off Mark Webster and Adrian Lewis in his first two games on Sunday, but saw his hopes of claiming a fourth successive win over van Gerwen dashed by the world number one.
Wright was a quarter-finalist for a third time this year on the European Tour before he was edged out by van Gerwen, while Lewis was a quarter-finalist for a second successive weekend.
Beaton followed up last weekend's nine-darter at the German Darts Open by overcoming 2018 world champion Rob Cross to reach his first European Tour quarter-final since September 2017.
Price finished six doubles from eight attempts in his third round win over Darius Labanauskas, but suffered defeat for a second time in four days to Wade as his hopes were ended in the last eight.
Friday April 26
Afternoon Session
- Keegan Brown 6-4 Conan Whitehead
- Boris Koltsov 6-5 Johan Engstrøm
- Steve Lennon 6-1 Jamie Bain
- Tytus Kanik 6-2 Dietmar Burger
- Stephen Bunting 6-4 Patrick van den Boogaard
- John Henderson 6-4 Ross Smith
- Darius Labanauskas 6-1 Michael Rasztovits
- Mark Webster 6-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Evening Session
- Mark Barilli 3-6 Steve Beaton
- Andrew Gilding 5-6 Chris Dobey
- Diogo Portela 1-6 Ryan Searle
- Kim Huybrechts 2-6 Nathan Aspinall
- Jamie Hughes 6-3 Patrick Tringler
- Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Mark Wilson
- Mervyn King 6-4 Devon Petersen
- Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-1 Banjamin Fasching
Saturday May 4
Afternoon Session
- Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Ricky Evans
- Mark Webster 6-5 Joe Cullen
- Steve Beaton 6-4 Michael Smith
- Daryl Gurney 6-2 Boris Koltsov
- Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Dave Chisnall
- Tytus Kanik 6-2 Jonny Clayton
- Adrian Lewis 6-5 Ryan Searle
- Stephen Bunting 6-0 Darren Webster
Evening Session
- Gerwyn Price 6-3 John Henderson
- Rob Cross 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
- Peter Wright 6-5 Chris Dobey
- Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Steve Lennon
- James Wade 6-2 Mervyn King
- Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Raymond Van Barneveld
- Ian White 6-5 Jamie Hughes
- Keegan Brown 6-4 Max Hopp
Sunday May 5
Afternoon Session
- Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Stephen Bunting
- Peter Wright 6-5 Tytus Kanik
- Adrian Lewis 6-1 Nathan Aspinall
- Daryl Gurney 6-2 Mark Webster
- Gerwyn Price 6-4 Darius Labanauskas
- Mensur Suljovic 3-6 James Wade
- Rob Cross 2-6 Steve Beaton
- Ian White 6-1 Keegan Brown
Evening Session
- Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Peter Wright
- Adrian Lewis 5-6 Daryl Gurney
- Gerwyn Price 4-6 James Wade
- Steve Beaton 2-6 Ian White
Semi-Finals (Best of 13 legs)
- Michael van Gerwen 7-3 Daryl Gurney
- James Wade 4-7 Ian White
Final (Best of 15 legs)
- Michael van Gerwen 8-7 Ian White
Austrian Darts Open: Past finals
- 2018: Jonny Clayton 8-5 Gerwyn Price
- 2017: Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Michael Smith
- 2016: Phil Taylor 6-4 Michael Smith
- 2014: Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Jamie Caven
- 2013: Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Mervyn King
- 2012: Justin Pipe 6-3 James Wade