Peter Wright upsets Michael van Gerwen to win German Darts Championship
Next PDC European Tour event will be the German Darts Masters in April
Sunday 26 March 2017 22:32, UK
Peter Wright claimed his second European Tour win by defeating Michael van Gerwen 6-3 in the German Darts Championship final on Sunday.
The world No 3 followed up his UK Open three weeks ago with a memorable victory over world champion Van Gerwen in front of an enthusiastic German crowd.
Wright had been taken all the way by another Dutchman, Christian Kist, in his opening fixture on Saturday, but dropped only two legs in each of his wins over Stephen Bunting and Kim Huybrechts to reach Sunday's semi-finals.
There, he was pushed all the way by Gerwyn Price in a repeat of the UK Open final, only for the Welshman to miss tops for victory in the deciding leg as Wright secured his place in the decider.
Van Gerwen, who won six European Tour events in 2016, followed up his second-round romp against Jermaine Wattimena with defeats of Cristo Reyes, Ian White and Jelle Klaasen to reach the final.
Having defeated Wright in three finals on the European Tour last year, Van Gerwen made a confident start before Wright hit back to level before tops moved the Dutchman 3-2 up, but legs of 13 and 14 darts from the Scot either side of a 120 finish moved him into a 5-3 lead before he held his nerve with a 60 checkout to complete the comeback.
"My darts room last year was full of runner-up trophies, and after Christmas I cleared it all and said I was going to fill it with winning ones - and I've got two so far!" said Wright.
"The fans were amazing and a lot of it was down to them. Michael didn't play like he can. He started off fantastically but I tried to stay with him."
Van Gerwen takes home £10,000 as runner-up, but said: "I only can be happy with winning the tournament, and I can only blame myself. Peter played well, but I missed doubles and if you miss doubles you need to handle that."
The next PDC European Tour event will be the German Darts Masters, to be held from April 15-17 in Jena, with a further £135,000 prize money on offer for 48 competitors.
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