German Darts Championship: Michael van Gerwen defeats James Wilson in hard-fought final
Michael van Gerwen won his 17th title of the season - and seventh on the European Tour - after battling past James Wilson 8-6 in the German Darts Championship final.
The world number one had only dropped one leg in his previous four matches combined having thrashed Cristo Reyes 6-0 with an average of 109 on Saturday before further demolition jobs on Martin Schindler (6-0), Dave Chisnall (6-1) and Joe Cullen (7-0) saw him book his place in the final.
He averaged 111 in that stunning semi-final clash with Cullen and while he couldn't quite match that standard against Lethal Biscuit, who was appearing in the first European Tour final of his career, he still had enough quality to get over the line in a hard-fought clash.
MVG posted a three-figure of average of 101 and landed high checkouts of 154 and 118 as he landed the 27th European Tour title of his career.
Van Gerwen, who hit a 103.56 tournament average across the weekend, said: "It's hard to perform at a high standard every week but I'm happy with how I played this weekend.
"I didn't make too many mistakes which is always pleasing and I loved playing in front of this great crowd. I think 17 tournament wins so far this year isn't bad!
"There are so many tournaments coming ahead and I want to win every one of them. I'm going to be at it non-stop until the end of the year."
🗣 “I think 17 tournament wins so far this year isn’t bad!”
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) September 2, 2018
💚Hear from your German Darts Champion @MvG180... pic.twitter.com/J9tlus88EF
The Dutch ace raced out of the blocks into a 3-0 lead before Wilson tidied up 44 to notch his first leg on the board.
Wilson wired double 16 for a break of throw before clinical Van Gerwen stepped up to land magnificent 118 and 154 checkouts in back-to-back legs to open up a commanding 5-1 lead.
However, the Yorkshireman never gave up and clawed his way back into contention at 3-5 down, only for Van Gerwen to reassert his dominance and move within a leg of the title at 7-3.
Once again, Wilson refused to go down without a fight and found himself dreaming of the impossible after rattling off three successive legs thanks to some brilliant finishing under pressure.
Van Gerwen ended Wilson's hopes with an outstanding 11-dart leg to lift the German Darts Championship for a second time.
Wilson's route to the final in Hildesheim proved far more taxing, with the Englishman overcoming two final-leg deciders in his opening matches against Jermaine Wattimena and Jonny Clayton but on Sunday he raised his game to see off Robert Thornton 6-3 and Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 before upsetting the odds to sink Mensur Suljovic 7-4.
German Darts Championship: Tournament Results
Friday August 31
First Round (Best of 11 legs)
Afternoon Session
- Josh Payne 6-3 Andy Boulton
- Mark Webster 6-5 Ted Evetts
- Kyle Anderson 6-4 Lee Bryant
- Darren Johnson 6-0 Christopher Hänsch
- Jan Dekker 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
- Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Richard North
- Andrew Gilding 6-2 Max Hopp
- Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Evening Session
- Martin Schindler 6-4 Justin Pipe
- Michael Rasztovits 6-4 David Pallett
- James Wilson 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
- Adrian Lewis 6-5 Toni Alcinas
- Terry Jenkins 6-3 Ross Smith
- Robert Thornton 6-5 Robert Marijanovic
- Ricky Evans 6-3 Danny Noppert
- Cristo Reyes 6-3 Nico Blum
Saturday September 1
Second Round (Best of 11 legs)
Afternoon Session
- Dave Chisnall 6-0 Mark Webster
- Jan Dekker 6-4 Gerwyn Price
- Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Stephen Bunting
- Joe Cullen 6-4 Josh Payne
- Daryl Gurney 6-3 Darren Johnson
- Michael Smith 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Martin Schindler 6-2 Steve Beaton
- Michael Rasztovits 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Evening Session
- Darren Webster 6-2 Ricky Evans
- James Wilson 6-5 Jonny Clayton
- Robert Thornton 6-3 James Wade
- Rob Cross 6-5 Kyle Anderson
- Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Andrew Gilding
- Adrian Lewis 6-5 Mervyn King
- Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Cristo Reyes
- Terry Jenkins 6-5 Ian White
Sunday September 2
Third Round (Best of 11 legs)
Afternoon Session
- Rob Cross 6-4 Michael Rasztovits
- Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Darren Webster
- James Wilson 6-3 Robert Thornton
- Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Michael Smith
- Adrian Lewis 6-5 Daryl Gurney
- Joe Cullen 6-5 Jan Dekker
- Dave Chisnall 6-4 Terry Jenkins
- Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Martin Schindler
Evening Session
Quarter-Finals (Best of 11 legs)
- Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Rob Cross
- James Wilson 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
- Joe Cullen 6-1 Adrian Lewis
- Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Semi-Finals (Best of 13 legs)
- James Wilson 7-4 Mensur Suljovic
- Michael van Gerwen 7-0 Joe Cullen
Final (Best of 15 legs)
- James Wilson 6-8 Michael van Gerwen
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