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The PDC’s fifth and final European Tour Event of 2012, the Dutch Darts Masters, takes place in Nuland this weekend.

The first round of the £82,100 tournament is spread over two sessions on Friday.

The afternoon session sees World Grand Prix runner-up Mervyn King take on Ronny Huybrechts on the main stage, before Andy Jenkins faces Justin Pipe.

Home favourite Co Stompe is up against Terry Temple, also on the main stage, while PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion James Hubbard plays Denis Ovens on stage two.

Former Players Champion Paul Nicholson completes the afternoon’s action on stage two when he faces 23-year-old prospect Ross Smith.

The evening session sees European Champion Simon Whitlock take to the main stage. ‘The Wizard’ takes on Denmark’s Per Laursen, before former PDC Under-21 World Champion Arron Monk plays Canadian ace John Part, the three-times World Champion.

Dutch trio Vincent van der Voort, Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld are all in action on the main stage on Friday evening.

van der Voort is up against Bernd Roith, while newly-crowned World Grand Prix champion van Gerwen takes on Peter Hudson.

Five-time World Champion van Barneveld faces Mick Todd.

Meanwhile, Welsh star Mark Webster takes on Mark Jones on stage two.

UK Open winner Robert Thornton has been forced to withdraw from the event due to a chest infection, which has prevented him from travelling.

The second round will take place over two sessions on Saturday, with the remainder of the tournament being played on Sunday.

Dutch Darts Masters – European Tour Event 5
Schedule of Play (MODUS associated players in bold)
Friday October 26
First Round
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Main Stage
Dave Chisnall v Gino Vos
Mervyn King v Ronny Huybrechts
Justin Pipe v Andy Jenkins
Colin Lloyd v Scott Rand
Kevin Painter v Brian Woods
Co Stompe v Terry Temple
Ronnie Baxter v Roland Scholten
Wes Newton v Jyhan Artut

Stage Two
Alan Tabern v Michael Smith
Wayne Jones v Dave Ladley
Terry Jenkins v Max Hopp
Jamie Caven v Kevin Munch
Denis Ovens v James Hubbard
Andy Smith v Dennis Priestley
Paul Nicholson v Ross Smith

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Main Stage
Andy Hamilton v Dennis Smith
Simon Whitlock v Per Laursen
John Part v Arron Monk
Vincent van der Voort v Bernd Roith
Michael van Gerwen v Peter Hudson
Phil Taylor v Steve Hine
Raymond van Barneveld v Mick Todd
Kim Huybrechts v Tomas Seyler

Stage Two
Mark Hylton v Davyd Venken
Peter Wright v Johnny Haines
Mark Webster v Mark Jones
Steve Beaton v Dean Winstanley
Colin Osborne v Toon Greebe
Steve Brown v Dick van Dijk
Mark Walsh v Jim Walker
Brendan Dolan v Tony West

By Chris Murphy

Book tickets to see some of the world’s top darts players in action at The Carlsberg Masters, Birmingham on Friday December 7.

Image courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Michael van Gerwen continued his brilliant form by taking his fifth Pro Tour title of 2012 with victory in the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic Players Championship on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Dutch sensation, who won his first PDC major title in Dublin last Sunday, defeated Nick Fullwell 6-3 in the final in Killarney.

The newly-crowned World Grand Prix champion claimed victories over Bernd Roith, Mick Todd, Roland Scholten and Colin Lloyd to reach the quarter-finals, where he saw off Kevin Mcdine.

‘Mighty Mike’ then defeated Jamie Caven 6-3, with the aid of a stunning 113.09 average, before triumphing over Fullwell by the same margin, to clinch the £6,000 first prize.

Saturday’s event saw Robert Thornton add to his impressive run of form, with the UK Open winner reaching his third consecutive Pro Tour final.

‘The Thorn’ disposed of Stuart Kellet, Prakash Jiwa, Damien O’Driscoll, Jamie Caven, Andy Smith and Darren Webster, before being denied victory by an on song Wright.

By Chris Murphy

See Michael van Gerwen in action alongside Whitlock, Barney, Wade, Webster, van der Voort & Monk at THE CARLSBERG MASTERS, Birmingham on Friday December 7.

Michael van Gerwen produced a brilliant fightback to clinch his first PDC major title with a fantastic victory over Mervyn King in the final of the World Grand Prix in Dublin on Sunday.

The Dutchman, who has won four Pro Tour titles this year, trailed ‘The King’ by four sets to one, before storming back to win five on the spin to take the £100,000 crown.

“This is the best day of my life,” said ‘Mighty Mike’, whose triumph sees him leap 17 places up the PDC order of merit to eighth.

“To win this tournament is an amazing achievement for me, but to do it in a game like that makes it even more special.

“Mervyn is a fantastic player and he made it really hard for me but even at four one down, I knew I could go on a run.

“That’s exactly what happened and I was over the moon when that last dart went in.

“No match is ever over until the last double is hit and I have lived by that all week. I’m so proud and so happy to win this tournament.”

van Gerwen looked to have got in to his stride straight away, scoring 170 to set up double eight to take the opening leg.

But King took three legs in a row to win the first set.

King held his throw in the first leg of the second set before van Gerwen’s second 180 helped him draw level.

The former Premier League star reeled off the next two legs though, opening up a two set cushion.

King moved two legs clear in set three, with fine finishes of 102 and 93, but ‘Mighty Mike’ hit back by hitting double 16, after setting it up with 159.

It didn’t prevent King from taking a third consecutive set however, as he produced a brilliant 152 checkout to get half way to the finishing line.

van Gerwen managed to break his opponent’s throw for the first time in the opening leg of the fourth set, before doubling his lead on double eight.

The Dutchman then slotted in a fourth 180 but King took out 120 to keep the set alive.

‘Mighty Mike’ did the same in terms of the match, hitting double eight to reduce King’s set lead to three one.

The 23-year-old quickly took the first two legs in the fifth set, posting double top on both occasions.

But he missed three darts for the set, allowing ‘The King’ to force a deciding leg.

It looked like it would be a pivotal one when van Gerwen missed three darts at double eight, leaving King to clean up 48 to restore a three set lead.

The Dutch star took out 75 to break King’s throw, before holding with a neat 87 finish.

He completed a clean sweep, hitting double tops after a 160 start, to reduce his opponent’s lead to 4-2.

van Gerwen moved ahead in the seventh set, winning a leg that included a bull, bull, 25 party piece before bedding double top.

He then took out 92 for a break of throw before truly announcing his presence in the final with a brilliant 131 checkout to close the gap to a single set.

‘Mighty Mike’ took a seventh leg on the spin and missed eight darts to make it eight in a row.

King stopped the rot by hitting double 16 but a third consecutive break of throw took van Gerwen a leg away from levelling up the match.

And he did exactly that, hitting double twelve to effectively make it a race to two sets for the £100,000 title.

‘The King’ hit double four to break and edge back in front, before moving two legs ahead in the ninth set, in a leg where both players hit 180s, which King followed up with a 117 checkout.

‘Mighty Mike’ bedded double eight to stay in the set and then hit double twelve to level it.

The young Dutch sensation then hit tops to take the lead for the first time since the very first leg of the match, moving a set away from victory in the process.

He broke King’s throw in the first leg of the tenth set before a fine 79 finish put him within a leg of victory.

Ever the showman, van Gerwen became champion in style, saving his highest finish of the match, a sensational 145 checkout, for the final leg.

The Dutch star, who is now the highest ranked player from his homeland after leapfrogging Raymond van Barneveld, will now turn his attentions to next month’s Grand Slam of Darts and the World Championships in December.

He added: “At the start of this year I was ranked 38th in the world. Now I am eighth and that is a dream for me.

“Raymond is a fantastic player so to go above him really is something special and I’m proud of it.

“Now I know how to win a major like this, I know I can win anything and I’m looking forward to going into the Grand Slam full of confidence and I’ll take it from there.

“Today is about winning my first PDC major. When I won the World Masters in the BDO that was a brilliant achievement but this really is the best day of my life.”

By Chris Murphy

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Image courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC