Two Dutch legends met in the final of the New Zealand Darts Masters in the early hours of Sunday morning when Michael van Gerwen thrashed Raymond van Barneveld 8-1 to take his second World Series title in a week.
In a repeat of last year’s corresponding final in Auckland, Mighty Mike was just too good for his compatriot and won his latest title with ease in front of a 4000-strong crowd at the Claudelands Arena in Hamilton.
The game’s fate was sealed almost immediately as Barney missed three darts at doubles in the opening two legs which allowed MVG to open up a 2-0 lead. That lead would soon be stretched to 5-0 as van Gerwen broke again with a 100 checkout in the second of the following three sets he reeled off.
Down 5-0, Barney finally did get a score on the board after he landed a double ten in the sixth leg. Sadly for the retiring legend, this was to be his only point of the match as the world number one would go on to claim the next three legs and walk away with yet another title, his 14th World Series title overall.
Earlier on in the day, MVG had produced a brilliant 8-5 win over Gary Anderson in a repeat of the final in Melbourne a week earlier. Mighty Mike followed that with a semi-final clash with former world champion Rob Cross, who he overcame in an 8-3 victory to secure a place in the final in Hamilton.
Barney’s route to the final saw him take on Daryl Gurney in the last eight, where he would run out the 8-6 winner. From there, he moved on to James Wade in the semi-final, where he sealed an 8-5 victory to set up the all-Dutch clash with van Gerwen.
Austrian Darts Championship Betting Tips Defending Champion
Our heroes now return to the European circuit and this week are back on European Tour duty as competitive play moves on to Schwechat in Austria t. The 2019 Austrian Darts Championship will take place on August 30 through September 1 and will see the return of the European Tour after a short break down under.
The top 16 players all receive a bye in the first round so we will need to wait a day to see number one seed Michael van Gerwen get his campaign underway. Mighty Mike will be aiming to make it three titles in three weekends after two World Series triumphs and is 11/10 with Betway to do precisely that. There is no Gary Anderson or Rob Cross this week so Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright goes in as the second favourite at the distant price of 7/1, slightly lower than Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith’s 9/1.
Things drift even further until Daryl Gurney’s 12/1 and Gerwyn Price’s 16/1. Mensur Suljovic will be the home favourite as the number seven seed. The Gentle is available for 20/1 as is Nathan Aspinall, while Dave Chisnall is 25/1 ahead of the rest of what is a packed field for a three-day event.
Austrian Darts Championship 2019 Schedule of Play
Friday August 30 (First Round)
- William O’Connor v Brendan Dolan
- James Wilson v Gavin Carlin
- Adam Gawlas v Ross Smith
- Ted Evetts v Host Nation Qualifier 2
- Cameron Menzies v West/South European Qualifier 2
- Host Nation Qualifier 5 v Cor Dekker
- Justin Pipe v Vincent van der Voort
- Jermaine Wattimena v Christian Bunse
- Host Nation Qualifier 1 v Kirk Shepherd
- Mark Webster v Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Luke Humphries v Jamie Hughes
- Host Nation Qualifier 4 v Keegan Brown
- West/South European Qualifier 1 v Chris Dobey
- Rowby-John Rodriguez v Josh Payne
- Jeffrey de Zwaan v Host Nation Qualifier 3
- Kyle Anderson v Stephen Bunting
Saturday August 31 (Second Round)
- Steve Beaton v Wilson/Carlin
- Simon Whitlock v Pipe/Van der Voort
- Gerwyn Price v O’Connor/Dolan
- Dave Chisnall v Host Nation Qualifier 5/Dekker
- Ricky Evans v Host Nation Qualifier 1/Shepherd
- Michael Smith v Menzies/ West/South European Qualifier 2
- Ian White v Evetts/ Host Nation Qualifier 2
- Adrian Lewis v Wattimena/Bunse
- Nathan Aspinall v Host Nation Qualifier 4/Brown
- Daryl Gurney v Rodriguez/Payne
- Jonny Clayton v West/South European Qualifier 1/Dobey
- Peter Wright v M Webster/Van den Bergh
- Mensur Suljovic v Gawlas/R Smith
- Joe Cullen v Humphries/Hughes
- Michael van Gerwen v Anderson/Bunting
- Darren Webster v De Zwaan/ Host Nation Qualifier 3
Sunday September 1
- Third Round
- Quarter-Finals
- Semi-Finals
- Final
QUICK GLANCE AT THE AUSTRIAN DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Venue: Multiversum Schwechat
Dates: August 30 – September 1
Format: Best of 11-15 legs
Current Champion: N/A
Where To Watch: PDC TV
When To Watch: (12.00, 18.15 GMT)