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Dutch Darts Masters champion Michael van Gerwen with the delighted fans (picture: Stefan Strassenburg/PDC Europe)

Dutch Darts Masters: Michael van Gerwen beats Steve Lennon in final

23:25 · SUN May 13, 2018

Michael van Gerwen beat Steve Lennon 8-5 in the final of the Dutch Darts Masters to claim his fourth tournament win in six European Tour events this year.

The victory is van Gerwen's 11th tournament success of 2018 and the Dutchman how turns his focus to claiming the Premier League crown on Thursday evening.

Van Gerwen has now collected 108 singles titles in his career and remains the man to beat on the oche.

The world number one followed up last weekend’s victory at the European Darts Grand Prix with another triumph, this time in front of his passionate home crowd.

The tournament's first visit to the IJsselhallen saw a fairy tale weekend unfold for runner-up Lennon, but van Gerwen proved too strong in the final as he scooped the £25,000 prize.

Van Gerwen whitewashed Terry Jenkins in Saturday evening’s second round, before recording wins over Darren Webster, Kyle Anderson and Daryl Gurney to book his place in the final.

Gurney missed three match darts for the win as van Gerwen recovered from 6-2 down to claim a battling 7-6 victory.

"It’s an amazing feeling to win in front of my home crowd," said Van Gerwen, who has won four out of five European Tour events in 2018.

"I didn’t play my best game this weekend but I did enough good things in the right moments to win matches where I wasn’t at my best.

"That gives me confidence going into the Premier League and for the rest of the year – I love winning and I want to keep the feeling going.

"Steve was brilliant this weekend, he got better as the game went on and he will be a better player for this experience."

Dutch Darts Masters champion Michael van Gerwen and runner-up Steve Lennon (picture: Stefan Strassenburg/PDC Europe)

Lennon’s incredible run to the final confirmed his emergence as one of the top prospects in darts in just his ninth appearance at a European Tour event.

The Irish ace beat James Richardson in Sunday afternoon’s third round before edging past Mensur Suljovic in style with a magnificent 143 finish to win it.

Lennon then defeated former Dutch Darts Masters champion Kim Huybrechts 7-5 in the semis, hitting two stunning ton-plus finishes in the crucial final two legs to wrap up the biggest victory of his career to date.

"I grew in confidence as the tournament went on,” said Lennon, who had previously never reached the final day of action at a European Tour event.

"I was very nervous at the start of the tournament and I got a bit lucky.

"I have no shame in losing to the best player in the planet and now I have to use this weekend’s performance as a springboard to bigger things this year."

Earlier in the evening, Huybrechts dumped out number two seed Peter Wright with a nail-biting 6-5 quarter-final victory.

Both players had darts to win the match, but it was the Belgian who struck the winning double to reach his first European Tour semi-final of the year.

Daryl Gurney also came close to winning a maiden European Tour title after he convincingly beat Stephen Bunting 6-2 in the quarter-finals.

Finishing proved to be the difference for the Northern Irishman, as he found six doubles from just nine attempts, including an impressive 118 checkout.

The PDC European Tour continues from June 8-10 with the Gibraltar Darts Trophy at the Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar.

Sunday May 13
Afternoon Session
Third Round
Best of 11 legs