MICHAEL VAN GERWEN won the HappyBet German Darts Masters for a third successive year as he defeated Jelle Klaasen 6-2 in Easter Monday’s final in Jena.

The World Champion had been in scintillating form throughout the Easter tournament, averaging over 100 in each of his four games as he won through to the final, which culminated in a demolition job of his Dutch rival in the final.

Van Gerwen kicked things off with an 11-dart leg as he took out 93 for the lead, before punishing three misses from Klaasen to double his lead with a break of throw before tops moved him halfway to further European Tour glory.

Klaasen got off the mark in leg four as he capitalised on two missed darts at double 12 from Van Gerwen to take out 80 and get his first leg on the board. The pair then traded legs before Van Gerwen took out 100 to complete an 11-darter which moved him on the brink of victory.

The 27-year-old landed his third 180 of the match to open leg eight, before landing tops to scoop the £25,000 top prize with his 15th European Tour win.. “It’s lovely,” said Van Gerwen. “I think I played phenomenally here in Jena – I had two games of 110 average and one game of 108, you can’t really as for any more.

“When you play this well it feels great, but I’ve worked really hard for this and I make a lot of sacrifices, so I’m really glad it paid off. “I love what I do and I love to perform for the great crowds like we have here in Germany.”

After a 110 average in his second round destruction of John Michael on Sunday, the world number one improved on this with a 110.78 average and some clinical finishing as he beat Cristo Reyes to reach the quarter-finals.

Next he faced old nemesis Raymond van Barneveld, but showed no signs of nerves as he stormed into the last four with another impressive 105.23 average, and a clinical 75% checkout rate – including two huge checkouts of 114 and 164

Standing in his way of a place in the final was the in-form Simon Whitlock, but the Australian could do little more than watch as he struggled to contain the Dutchman in a 6-2 defeat.

And Van Gerwen was again at his best as he fired three 180s and another 107.33 average against Klaasen to take his tournament average up to 106 as he secured his 15th European Tour title, bouncing back from his loss to Peter Wright in the recent HappyBet German Darts Championship final in perfect fashion.

It was a good weekend for Klaasen as he picked up the £10,000 runner-up prize with a run to his second European Tour final.

Monday April 17th

Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)

Third Round

99.05 Mensur Suljovic (3) 2-6 Kyle Anderson 98.53
89.38 Jeffrey de Graaf 5-6 Jelle Klaasen (11) 92.28
87.41 James Wade (7) 6-2 Gerwyn Price (10) 89.52
95.39 Peter Wright (2) 6-1 Stephen Bunting (15) 100.74
93.27 Simon Whitlock (4) 6-1 Steffen Siepmann 83.73
77.86 Rowby-John Rodriguez 1-6 Michael Smith (12) 92.58
102.16 Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Kim Huybrechts (9) 96.43
110.78 Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-3 Cristo Reyes (16) 92,56

Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)

Quarter-Finals

94.22 Kyle Anderson 4-6 Jelle Klaasen (11) 92.63
94.33 James Wade (7) 6-3 Peter Wright (2) 93.72
93.30 Simon Whitlock (4) 6-4 Michael Smith (12) 92.16
99.50 Raymond van Barneveld 3-6 Michael van Gerwen (1) 105.23

Semi-Finals

93.99 Jelle Klaasen (11) 6-3 James Wade (7) 84.40
92.30 Simon Whitlock (4) 2-6 Michael van Gerwen (1) 100.58

Final

98.29 Jelle Klaasen (11) 2-6 Michael van Gerwen (1) 107.33