MICHAEL VAN GERWEN woke up with the Sid Waddell Trophy on Thursday, hours after his dream of becoming the Ladbrokes World Darts Champion became a reality.
The Dutch star picked up dart's biggest prize with a 7-4 triumph over Peter Wright in Wednesday's World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, thrilling a capacity crowd with a brilliant display.
He took the game's first four sets to assume control before holding off Wright's fightback to seal victory with the biggest double top he has hit in his career.
The win saw van Gerwen win his fifth - and greatest - televised title, while he also becomes the youngest of the six PDC World Champions.
"It's still sinking in for me," said van Gerwen, as he posed for pictures with fiancee Daphne alongside the Sid Waddell Trophy before returning to Holland. "Last night was an amazing night, the biggest night of my life, and I really enjoyed it.
"To win this title is brilliant for me. I've worked a long time for this and it's the biggest thing ever. I'm very proud of it.
"I've had a great year and it's great to end it with a win in the World Championship.
"I want to enjoy every minute of the coming year and I want to win loads more titles. Obviously you want to win every tournament but that's not easy, and you've got to take one game at a time. If you look too far forward you'll fall down."
The £250,000 prize money takes van Gerwen above great rival Phil Taylor to the top of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time - and follows his wins over the Stoke legend in the finals of the Premier League Darts and Players Championship Finals in the past 12 months.
Van Gerwen added: "It's fantastic that I'm number one in the world now but I know Phil will bounce back. He's still the biggest man in darts and he's won this title 16 times - I've only won it once.
"He's won everything in the game and is a phenomenal player and a great guy - he's a legend. I think we'll have a lot more great games this year."