Van Gerwen Lifts Dutch Darts Masters Title

European Tour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN claimed his fourth European Tour title of the year in Zwolle.

2018 Dutch Darts Masters Day Two

European Tour

STEPHEN BUNTING produced a superb display to whitewash Michael Smith 6-0 in the second round of the Dutch Darts Masters.

Entries Confirmed For Gibraltar & Denmark

European Tour

ENTRIES have been confirmed for the PDC European Tour events in Gibraltar and Denmark in June ahead of the UK Qualifiers.

2018 Players Championship 11-12 Entries

ProTour

THE entries have been confirmed for Players Championship events 11 & 12, which will be held in Milton Keynes on May 19-20.

Cross Withdraws From Zwolle Event

European Tour

WORLD CHAMPION Rob Cross has withdrawn from the 2018 Dutch Darts Masters on medical advice.

2018 Dutch Darts Masters Day One

European Tour

JAN DEKKER delighted the home crowd at the Dutch Darts Masters with a 6-4 first round win over Adrian Lewis.

Quartet Secure Zwolle Spots

European Tour

CHRISTIAN KIST, Jermaine Wattimena, Jan Dekker and Jeffrey de Graaf claimed the final places in the Dutch Darts Masters.

2018 Dutch Darts Masters Draw/Schedule

European Tour

THE draw & schedule of play for the 2018 Dutch Darts Masters are now available ahead of the European Tour event in Zwolle.

Van Gerwen Claims Sindelfingen Crown

European Tour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN claimed his third European Tour title of 2018 at the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen.

2018 European Darts Grand Prix Day Two

European Tour

ROB CROSS edged past Vincent van der Voort 6-5 in a thrilling second round clash at the European Darts Grand Prix.

Rob Cross continued his golden run of form to win Thursday's Players Championship 26 in Barnsley, defeating Ryan Searle 8-6 in a tight final.

Last Sunday's Cazoo European Championship winner claimed the £10,000 title at the Barnsley Metrodome to win his first Players Championship since June 2018 on another superb day of darts.

The 2018 World Champion averaged over 100 in five of his seven matches, picking up wins over Scottish World Cup-winning pair Peter Wright and John Henderson as well as defeating David Evans, Andy Hamilton and Vincent van der Voort.

He then defied a nine-darter from Madars Razma to win their semi-final 7-4, pulling clear from four-all to move into the title decider.

Cross dominated the final, taking out 124 on the bull to break in the opening leg, leading 2-0, 3-1 and 6-2 with some fine darts - including a pressure 96 in leg six to deny Searle a chance to level.

Searle took three legs in a row to reduce the gap to one leg at 6-5, but Cross produced a timely 14-darter to earn breathing space and responded to a 105 checkout from his opponent by finishing 76 to claim the title.

"It's great," said Cross. "It's so surprising what a bit of confidence does - I've played well this week.

"I feel like I'm never going to miss when I put that first dart in there. That's a kick-start, and the confidence on top made me a winner today.

"It's taken a lot of work. For 18-20 months I've been terrible.

"I seem to find that, when things all go wrong, you never enjoy it, and then all of a sudden you start to get a little bit of improvement and enjoy it a little bit more.

"I want to wear my heart on my sleeve, I want to enjoy it AND win. We're going to ride this crest of a wave."

Birthday boy Searle, who turned 34 on Thursday, averaged over 103 against Robert Thornton and Mike De Decker as well as seeing off Daryl Gurney, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall in his run to a third ProTour final of 2021.

However, he was denied a second title of the year, and a third ProTour win, as Cross emerged victorious in a battle between two players who progressed from the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour in 2016.

"Ryan's brilliant, I've got a lot of admiration for him and for the last three months he's played great," added Cross. "He's reaping the benefits and so he should."

Latvia's Madars Razma enjoyed his best run in a ProTour event this year, defeating top seed Joe Cullen and Nordic rival Darius Labanauskas on his way to the semi-finals, where he achieved his nine-darter in defeat to Cross.

Aspinall reached his third semi-final inside a month before losing out to Searle, having defeated top 20 stars Gary Anderson, Krzysztof Ratajski, Jose de Sousa and Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Van der Voort and Van Duijvenbode were joined in the quarter-finals by Michael Smith and Luke Woodhouse, while world number two Peter Wright lost out in the last 16.

Michael van Gerwen was defeated in the last 32 by Daryl Gurney as the three-time World Champion lost despite a 107 average for the second time in three days.

Friday sees PDC Super Series 7 conclude with Players Championship 27, as 128 players compete in the fourth ProTour event of the week.

Drawboard