Michael van Gerwen retains Dutch Masters title after victory over Daryl Gurney

Michael van Gerwen claimed the Dutch Darts Masters title for a third successive year with a superb 6-2 win over Daryl Gurney.

The 26-year-old Dutchman ended on a 112.26 average as he retained the trophy with a comfortable victory over Gurney, who had reached his first PDC final.

In a thrilling start to the match, Van Gerwen opened with a stunning 152 checkout, but his Northern Irish opponent answered with a 180 and a 116 finish.

Van Gerwen then produced a red-hot spell of scoring to seize control, reeling off five 180s in three legs as he fired in legs of 13, 11 and 12 darts to move 4-1 up.

It's fantastic for myself and for the home crowd, and in the final I played good darts.

Tops for a 14-darter saw van Gerwen move to the brink of victory, and though Gurney responded with double eight for a 14-dart finish, the world No 1 landed another maximum to set up tops for a match-winning 13-darter.

"It feels incredible," said van Gerwen. "It's fantastic for myself and for the home crowd, and in the final I played good darts.

"I hope I can carry this on for the rest of the season, but I'm playing well and I'm very pleased with this performance. I want to win as many tournaments as possible and I showed today that I was the best in this tournament."

Gurney has moved into the world's top 32 after reaching the final, averaging 105 in his win over Peter Wright and he then bettered that mark with a 106.84 average in a quarter-final win over Adrian Lewis.