Michael van Gerwen wins Austrian Darts Open final

Michael van Gerwen won his third European Tour title of 2017 with a brilliant 6-5 defeat of Michael Smith in Sunday's Austrian Darts Open final at the Multiversum in Schwechat.

World champion Van Gerwen has previously taken victories in Jena and Hamburg this year, and was victorious once again as he claimed the £25,000 title in dramatic fashion against Smith.

Former world youth champion Smith was bidding to follow up last month's Gibraltar Darts Trophy triumph with his second win of the year, and led Van Gerwen during a thrilling final.

"This means a lot to me," said Van Gerwen, who had warmed up for the event with a visit to Rapid Vienna football club on Friday. "I came here to win and I'm glad I could do that, but I played well, especially today.

"Michael is getting back in form, he is a fantastic player and he kept me under pressure. The 170 finish was great and he put me under a lot of pressure, but I was really glad to win."

His semi-final win over Cristo Reyes saw the world No 1 record an unstoppable 115.57 average as he stormed through to take on Smith.

Four-time European Tour winner Smith had missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish during his quarter-final win over Mervyn King during another memorable day for the 26-year-old.

Having defeated Chris Quantock in round two on Saturday, he also saw off Jelle Klaasen in the third round on Sunday afternoon and was a 6-4 semi-final winner against Joe Cullen.

After being denied by Van Gerwen, Smith admitted: "I tried so much to keep him under pressure. Michael's number one for a reason and he deserves it."

Don't forget that you can see all the action from the World Matchplay Darts in Blackpool, live on Sky Sports. The arrows run from 22-30 July.

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