World No 1 too good for resurgent Machine to claim title number 19 of the year
Tuesday 16 October 2018 15:34, UK
Michael van Gerwen continued his domination of the European Tour with an 8-3 victory over James Wade to claim the European Darts Trophy.
It may seem strange now but for a period Van Gerwen's status as the best player on planet darts was the subject of debate as Gary Anderson claimed the year's major TV titles.
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But fresh from victory in Dublin that gave him a fourth World Grand Prix crown, Van Gerwen headed for Germany this weekend and proceeded to underline his dominance and status at the top of the game.
"I think I played a phenomenal tournament, you can only dream about a performance like this," said Van Gerwen, who averaged more than 100 in every match on his way to the title at the Lokhalle.
"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!"
MVG began on Saturday evening and saw off close friend Vincent van der Voort to seal a spot in Finals Day and on Sunday he reeled off four victories to rack up the £25,000 first prize and his eighth European Tour title of the year from 13 events.
After accounting for Van der Voort, a 106.5 average saw him power past Stephen Bunting 6-4 into the quarter-finals where he repeated that figure to see off Daryl Gurney 6-2 and then demolish Michael Smith 7-2 to reach his 33rd European Tour final.
In the final Van Gerwen played Wade, who celebrated becoming a father for the first time last week, and had dazzled with wins over Toni Alcinas, Darren Webster, world champion Rob Cross and Richard North.
In the Gottingen showpiece, a second European Tour final of the year between the pair, Wade started fast for an early 2-1 advantage. But back-to-back 12-dart finishes from Van Gerwen saw him take a lead which he never relinquished - a showpiece bullseye-19-bullseye finish to take out 119 for a 4-2 advantage
Wade tidied up 82 to stay in the contest at 4-3 after MVG had missed a dart for a three-leg but the Dutchman did not look back as Van Gerwen fired off the next four legs in emphatic style to lift the European Darts Trophy for a third successive year.
The European Darts Trophy was the 13th and final European Tour event of 2018, with the leading 32 players from the European Tour Order of Merit qualifying for the European Championship in Dortmund, which will take place from October 25-28.
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Richard North 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
James Wade 6-3 Rob Cross
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 7-2 Michael Smith
James Wade 7-4 Richard North
Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-3 James Wade
Darts season is in full swing and continues on Sky Sports with the Grand Slam of Darts in November and the World Championships which get underway from the iconic Alexandra Palace on December 13.
