Dave Chisnall hit the first nine-darter on the European Tour for three years en route to winning the Belgian Darts Open in Wieze.
Chizzy, who hit the last one at the Gibraltar Darts Trophy in 2019, sent the packed Oktoberhallen wild when achieving perfection in the first leg of his semi-final clash with Danny Noppert and maintained his focus to seal a commanding 7-4 victory with a 104 average.
Few better sights in sport than a Dave Chisnall nine-darter!pic.twitter.com/nFuPbEl79U
β Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) September 25, 2022
It was the 12th nine-darter of Chisnall's career although this was 'only' the third in front of a crowd having previously hit one at the televised Grand Slam of Darts in 2015 and the aforementioned Gibraltar event three years ago.
The St Helens thrower then came up against the unseeded Andrew Gilding in the final and after hitting the front at 3-2 following finishes of 112 and 86, he went on claim the third European Tour title of his career and 15th in the PDC with an 8-6 victory.
Chizzy, won the 2019 Danish Darts Open and the 2013 German Darts Championship, averaged 92.31 compared to Gilding's 89.69 while he hit three of the six 180s in the match and pinned eight of his 24 attempts at doubles.
"It's very special," said an emotional Chisnall. "Any tournament you win is special but this one means even more after a tough year personally.
"We've had a couple of family bereavements so this is for them. I had a terrible year last year but I'm coming back and there will be more trophies going in my cabinet.
"I've been saying for the last few weeks that this has been coming and this weekend it happened.
"The final was one of those games where we were both trying too hard to win a big tournament. Luckily for me that double 19 went in; I'm so happy."
CHISNALL IS THE CHAMPION IN BELGIUM π
β PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) September 25, 2022
The three-year wait for a title for Dave Chisnall is over π‘
He beats Andrew Gilding 8-6 to win the 2022 Belgian Darts Open, sealing a perfect weekend in Wieze. pic.twitter.com/RWTg4JNYSh
Earlier in the day Chisnall battled past fourth seed Nathan Aspinall 6-4 despite missing 21 of his 27 attempts at doubles and then came through an equally scrappy quarter-final against Jose de Sousa, running out a 6-2 winner with an 89 average.
For the third time... πππ
β PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) September 25, 2022
Dave Chisnall secures his third European Tour title and is crowned the 2022 Belgian Darts Open Champion!
A nine-darter on the way too in a brilliant weekend!
Now... good luck getting the trophy in your suitcase π§³π pic.twitter.com/eE6lfBUKD9
Meanwhile, Gilding's continued strong form in 2022 sees him confirm his place in October's BoyleSports World Grand Prix, having already featured in the Betfred World Matchplay in July.
Having defeated Belgian number one Dimitri Van den Bergh in Saturday's second round, Gilding overcame Niels Zonneveld, Martin Schindler and Jonny Clayton as he reached a first European Tour final.
Sunday saw the tournament reach its climax with last 16 matches in the afternoon, before the evening session saw the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place.
Hopes of a Belgian winner were ended in the last 16 as Kim Huybrechts - who defeated Michael van Gerwen in round two - went down 6-1 to Adrian Lewis.
German duo Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler fell at the quarter-final stage along with Lewis and De Sousa.
FINAL
SEMI-FINALS
QUARTER-FINALS
THIRD ROUND
SECOND ROUND
Seeds enter in round two
ROUND ONE
Winners play the seeds