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MICHAEL VAN GERWEN claimed a fifth consecutive Dutch Darts Masters title after defeating Steve Lennon 8-5 in Sunday’s final on the PDC European Tour’s first visit to Zwolle. 

The world number one followed up last weekend’s European Darts Grand Prix success with a fourth European Tour triumph of 2018.

The Dutch ace delighted his home crowd with victories over Terry Jenkins, Darren Webster and Kyle Anderson to reach the semi-finals, where it looked like his dominance was about to be ended when Daryl Gurney took a 6-2 lead in a race to seven legs.

Van Gerwen, however, refused to disappoint the passionate home fans and reeled off five consecutive legs to book his place in the decider.

There, he defeated Ireland’s Lennon by three legs to pick up his 11th PDC title of the year.

“It’s an amazing feeling to win in front of my home crowd,” said Van Gerwen, who will now turn his attention to retaining his Premier League title on Thursday evening.

“I didn’t play my best game this weekend but I did enough good things in the right moments to win matches where I wasn’t at my best.

“That gives me confidence going into the Premier League and for the rest of the year – I love winning and I want to keep the feeling going.

“Steve was brilliant this weekend, he got better as the game went on and he will be a better player for this experience.”