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NINE-DART HERO VAN GERWEN WINS 888.com EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN landed a historic nine-dart finish on his way to the 888.com European Championship title on Sunday night, as he achieved the feat against Raymond van Barneveld before storming past Terry Jenkins 11-4 in the final at the RWE Sporthalle in Germany.

The world number one's amazing October continued as he claimed the 55,000 pound first prize and followed up his World Grand Prix triumph a fortnight ago and a Players Championship title last Sunday with victory for a third successive weekend.

Van Gerwen had seen off Justin Pipe and Brendan Dolan as he won through to Sunday's final stages, but hit top gear with a 111 average in his 10-5 quarter-final win over Dave Chisnall.

The World Champion then hit the fourth televised nine-dart finish of his career as he came from 2-0 down to defeat van Barneveld 11-6 in the semi-finals. Van Gerwen's moment of perfection came in the seventh leg when, trailing 4-2, he opened the leg with a 177 and then landed a 180, before finishing 144 with two treble 20s and double 12 for a fourth televised nine-darter - earning himself a 5,000 pound bonus.
He went on to finish 161 and 100 during the remainder of the contest as he took eight of the final nine legs to power into the final against Jenkins.

Van Gerwen continued that form at the start of the final by taking the opening five legs without reply, breaking throw twice and taking out a 167 finish in the process. Jenkins hit two 180s as he hit back to win the next three legs, but van Gerwen hit a maximum of his own as he halted the revival in the ninth leg as he set off on a run of five successive legs to move 10-3 up. Van Gerwen missed one dart for the title in the next as Jenkins posted tops to keep the game alive, but van Gerwen landed two 10s in the 15th leg before hitting tops to claim his first European Championship title.

"It's a fantastic trophy to win and a very special moment for me," said van Gerwen. "I'm really happy with how I played throughout the tournament, and the nine-darter was special. I've never won this tournament before, so it means a lot to me. A couple of years ago I could only have dreamed about this, but now it's a reality and a lot of it has to do with confidence and I know I can do a lot of good things at the moment. To win the World Championship and the European Championship in the same year is fantastic."

The defeat means that Jenkins has now lost nine major televised finals during his stellar career, with the 51-year-old having to settle for the 25,000 pound runner-up prize. Jenkins enjoyed wins over Scottish duo Gary Anderson and Robert Thornton on the opening two days of the event, before defeating Stephen Bunting in Sunday afternoon's quarter-finals. He then overcame Mervyn King 11-8 during a semi-final in which he came from 3-2 down to lead 6-3 before holding onto that cushion to book his place in the decider, but once again fell narrowly short of a maiden major title.

"It's obviously disappointing to lose but I'm happy with the way I played this weekend and to reach the final," said Jenkins. "I had a tough draw and I beat some good players. I suppose it's the same old story with losing the final but to reach another major final is a feather in my cap. A lot of top players have never made one major final, let alone nine, so I can't be too disappointed. I always go up there and give it 100 percent, but Michael's great - he doesn't seem to miss and if you miss, he jumps on you. This, though, could set me up really well for the rest of the year now."

Van Barneveld defeated world number four Peter Wright in Sunday afternoon's quarter-finals to reach the last four for the second time in the event, but was full of praise for his Dutch rival after van Gerwen's stunning semi-final fightback.

"I can't say I'm disappointed because I had Simon Whitlock in the first round, Vincent van der Voort, Peter Wright and then Michael," said van Barneveld, who had worn glasses in competition for the first time during the event. Michael's phenomenal at the moment and hit a nine-darter and a 161 - everything goes in for him and in the second half of our game he was nearly perfect. He's an amazing player."



King's run over the weekend, which saw him pick up wins over Christian Kist, Ronny Huybrechts and Jelle Klaasen, was his best in the history of the European Championship. However, he admitted: "I ran out of steam against Terry and didn't have enough in the tank, and the better player won. I'm pleased with how I played during the weekend and I want to keep this form going now."

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