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Michael van Gerwen Dutch Darts Masters

Van Gerwen Lifts Dutch Darts Masters Title

Alex Moss |

A Week In Darts – January 29, 2024 – Van Gerwen Wins On Home Soil

Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler locked horns again on the big stage as the World Series of Darts rolled into the Netherlands at the weekend. Here’s our round-up of the Dutch Darts Masters, along with all the rest of last week’s darts news in the latest ‘A Week In Darts’.

VAN GERWEN DENIES LITTLER TO WIN DUTCH DARTS MASTERS

Michael van Gerwen delighted his home crowd as he beat Luke Littler 8-6 to win the Dutch Darts Masters on Saturday night.

It was a memorable triumph on home soil for the Dutch number one, who avenged his defeat to Littler in the Bahrain Darts Masters final the previous weekend.

Van Gerwen beat a trio of fellow Dutchmen to reach the final, getting the better of Vincent van der Voort, Raymond van Barneveld and Gian van Veen to reach back-to-back finals on the World Series of Darts tour.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Littler continued his blistering run of form with victories against Dirk van Duijvenbode, Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price taking him through to a third televised final in a row.

With the final locked at 6-6, Littler was punished for missing two darts at double eight to break throw as van Gerwen hit double 10 to move 7-6 up and on the cusp of victory.

The recent World Championship finalist Littler came close to a 170 finish in the next leg to force a decider, before the home favourite wrapped up the title in Den Bosch with a 12-dart leg.

“Luke put me under so much pressure,” van Gerwen said. “He has a very bright future ahead of him.

“We all know that, but you still want to stop him, and you have to do the right things against him, which is what I did tonight.

“His scoring power is immense so you have to keep on fighting, but I am glad that I was able to.

“I’ve had some really tough matches in finals over the last year. I underperformed a lot of times, but it’s important to keep your fighting spirit and never give up.”

The World Series resumes later in the year with the US Darts Masters, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, in May.

PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS FIXTURES RELEASED

The fixtures for the upcoming Premier League season have been confirmed, with Luke Humphries and Luke Littler to face off on the opening night in a repeat of the World Championship final.

Humphries beat the teenager Littler 7-4 to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy and move to the top of the world rankings at the start of this month.

The two finalists are part of the eight-player line up for this year’s Premier League, which is the 20th staging of the tournament that is held in some of the biggest indoors around the UK and Europe.

The 2024 season starts at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on Thursday (February 1), with the first night’s quarter-final fixtures headlined by that World Championship final rematch.

The other three quarter-final clashes will see former world champions Peter Wright and Rob Cross lock horns, before Gerwyn Price takes on Nathan Aspinall, and then Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith meet in another re-run of an Ally Pally final.

DOUBLE FOR DETA IN ROMANIA

Deta Hedman added to her impressive trophy cabinet with a brace of titles at the Romanian Darts Festival at the weekend.

The Mission-sponsored festival featured two WDF silver-ranked events, the Romanian Classic and the Romanian Open, with a total field of 500+ players competing across the three days in Bucharest.

In the women’s events, Hedman whitewashed Lorraine Hyde 5-0 in the final of the Classic, before completing the double with a 5-2 victory over Eve Watson to scoop the Open title.

The two men’s titles were shared as Jimmy van Schie edged past Alexander Merkx 5-4 to win the Classic in his first WDF final, before Merkx bounced back by beating Patrik Kovacs 5-3 to clinch the Open crown.

The WDF season continues with the popular Dutch Open – the largest darts open in the world - this upcoming weekend.

First held in 1973, this event attracts a huge number of players with more than 4,500 players signed on to play in the 2024 edition, which starts with the warm-up tournament on Thursday.

Pictures: PDC

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