Second PDC Euro title of the year for Dave Chisnall

A repeat of their meeting in February’s Baltic Sea Darts Open final ended with Chisnall again victorious, by the same scoreline of 8-5.

Having led 4-1 in Leeuwarden, Chisnall defied a Humphries fightback to walk away with the £30,000 first prize and a fifth Tour success.

He said: “Luke is not just a great player, he’s a great friend and I’ve got so much respect for him.

“You have to play 100 averages to beat him – unfortunately he didn’t play like he did before but I took advantage and hit my doubles.

“Now, it’s so hard – you have to hit 100 averages to win tournaments. All the players are so good, there are no easy games any more.”

Chisnall had gone into the tournament, looking to overturn an indifferent run of Tour results since February’s victory.

His subsequent four Tour appearances had brought three last-16 losses before a second-round defeat in Austria.

The second seed began his campaign on Saturday, posting an average of more than 100 and throwing four 180s to beat Martin Lukeman, 6-4.

Chisnall then began Sunday’s Finals Day with a 6-3 win over Josh Rock in the last 16, before defeating Peter Wright 6-1 in the quarter-finals.

That set up a semi-final against Michael van Gerwen, in which Chisnall led 3-0 and 5-2 before being pegged back.

It eventually went to a deciding leg, in which Van Gerwen missed three darts at double six as Chisnall won 7-6.