Sunday 9 July 2017 21:05, UK
Peter Wright won his fourth European Tour title by defeating Mervyn King 6-2 in the final of the HappyBet European Darts Open on Sunday night in Leverkusen.
The world No 3 showed his class to scoop the £25,000 title once again and extend his outstanding 2017 with a ninth tournament victory of the year.
Having already claimed three European Tour titles in Germany, he thrilled the capacity crowd at Leverkusen's Ostermann Arena with another sublime showing as he denied King his first German victory since 2014.
Having seen off Robbie Green 6-1 in Saturday's second round, Wright then dropped just three legs to kick off Sunday's challenge, before overcoming top ten rival Dave Chisnall for the loss of only one leg in the quarter-finals.
He then averaged almost 100 in his semi-final win over Mensur Suljovic, coming from 3-1 down to reel off five straight legs for a 6-3 triumph.
The final saw Wright come up against his former Pairs partner and East Anglian rival King, who had become the first unseeded player to reach a European Tour final for almost 18 months with his run in Leverkusen.
Wright began in superb fashion by taking out 136 to break throw immediately with a 12-darter, and the pair traded 177 scores in leg two before double nine saw King level.
Wright, though, broke for a second time with a 13-darter to lead 2-1 before winning the next three legs - with the aid of another 13-dart finish - to move to the brink of victory.
King landed a 180 in a 13-darter to cut the gap to 5-2, but Wright was in no mood to allow his rival any further hope of a comeback, taking out 101 in clinical fashion to seal victory with a 103 average and six doubles from nine attempts.
Wright's win sees him move into second place in the all-time list of European Tour wins with five - behind Michael van Gerwen's 17 - as he continued a memorable year.
"Mervyn had beaten everyone in the other half and I had to play my best in the final, and luckily enough I played my best game of the weekend," said Wright.
"The crowd got me hyped up and really focused and my adrenaline was crazy, and the 136 in the first leg was a great start.
"Mervyn has worked really hard to come back to where he is now and he's had loads of semi-finals and finals in the floor tournaments this year, and he's coming back."
The next PDC European Tour event will be the Dutch Darts Masters from September 1-3 at the MECC in Maastricht. For tickets, visit www.pdc-europe.tv.
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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