Dave Chisnall beaten in Belgian Open title defence
Dave Chisnall was unable to successfully defend his Blåkläder Belgian Darts Open crown in the PDC’s seventh European Tour event of the year.
Having won last year’s inaugural visit to Wieze, Chisnall had been targeting a third Tour title of the year after victories in the Baltic Sea Darts Open and the Dutch Darts Championship.
He began this year’s event with an impressive display in Saturday’s second round.
The second seed registered another average of more than 100 for a 6-2 defeat of Ricky Evans, who had whitewashed Kim Huybrechts in Friday’s opening round.
However, he made another last-16 exit with a 6-4 loss against Josh Rock on Sunday, the Northern Irishman averaging 104 in the process.
The Austrian Darts Open runner-up then saw off world champion Michael Smith, 6-1, only to lose 7-3 against Michael van Gerwen in the last four.
It was van Gerwen who took home the trophy and £30,000 top prize, beating Luke Humphries 8-6 for a first Tour title in 12 months.
The win also saw him leapfrog Peter Wright into second place in the PDC Order of Merit.
“It means a lot to me,” said the new champion afterwards.
“I knew that if I won today I'd be above Peter Wright in the world rankings and, of course, that’s really important.
“You always have to give 100 per cent and that’s what I do all the time. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but I’m a fighter, I never give up, and I keep fighting until the end.
“That’s what I did today, that’s why I won, and it’s really good for myself.”