Teemu Harju stormed to victory in the inaugural PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship with a resounding 8-2 victory over Sweden’s Edwin Torbjornsson on Saturday.
The top 24 players on the PDC Nordic & Baltic rankings went head-to-head across two days of action in Copenhagen, with Harju producing the goods to lift the Jan Hoffman Trophy.
The 33-year-old overcame Par Riihonen, Cor Dekker, Johan Engstrom and Torbjornsson on Finals Day in the Danish capital, as he saved his best performance for Saturday’s showpiece.
Torbjornsson drew first blood before Harju took control of the final, landing four 180s in just five legs to establish a commanding 5-1 cushion.
Swedish star Torbjornsson doubled his tally in leg seven, but Finland’s World Cup star Harju hit back with another impressive flurry, converting 80, 81 and 78 checkouts to seal the deal with a 94.36 average.
Harju kicked off his campaign with an emphatic 6-1 success against Par Riihonen, which he backed up with a battling 6-4 victory over Cor Dekker – a European Tour semi-finalist in Basel last weekend.
However, he was forced to defy a brilliant fightback from Engstrom in the semi-finals, as the diminutive Swede landed legs of 12, 12 and 14 darts to force a decider, having trailed 6-3 at one stage.
Torbjornsson, meanwhile, won through four deciding-leg ties in his dramatic run to the final, defeating Niels Heinsoe, Valters Melderis, Anton Ostlund and Daniel Larsson along the way.
Having overturned a 5-4 deficit to topple Latvian World Cup star Melderis, Torbjornsson was forced to survive match darts in edging out his fellow countrymen Ostlund and Larsson.
Larsson put in the performance of the tournament in his quarter-final win over top seed Andreas Harrysson, averaging 103.36 to complete a thrilling 6-4 victory.
Harrysson and Dekker were among the quarter-final casualties, with Lithuanian trailblazer Darius Labanauskas and Sweden’s number two Oskar Lukasiak crashing out in the last 16.
The winner of the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship is guaranteed a place in the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, although Harju had already confirmed his qualification via the Nordic & Baltic ProTour rankings.
As a result, Lukasiak – who finished third on the Nordic & Baltic rankings – will now join Harrysson and Harju as the third Nordic & Baltic representatives at Alexandra Palace in December.
PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship
October 3-4, Copenhagen
Last 16`
Andreas Harrysson 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
Daniel Larsson 6-2 Jonas Masalin
Anton Ostlund 6-2 Marko Kantele
Edwin Torbjornsson 6-5 Valters Melderis
Teemu Harju 6-1 Par Riihonen
Cor Dekker 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Mindaugas Barauskas 6-2 Oskar Lukasiak
Johan Engstrom 6-0 Andreas Hyllgaardhus
Quarter-Finals
Daniel Larsson 6-4 Andreas Harrysson
Edwin Torbjornsson 6-5 Anton Ostlund
Teemu Harju 6-4 Cor Dekker
Johan Engstrom 6-5 Mindaugas Barauskas
Semi-Finals
Edwin Torbjornsson 7-6 Daniel Larsson
Teemu Harju 7-6 Johan Engstrom
Final
Teemu Harju 8-2 Edwin Torbjornsson