Michael van Gerwen was crowned the 2019 Melbourne Darts Masters champion as he beat Daryl Gurney 8-3 in front of a packed crowd at Melbourne Arena.

Claiming his second title in Australia, and first since 2016 – Van Gerwen also sealed his first televised title since the Premier League back in May in the process. It was normal service resumed for the world number one, as he powered his way to 13th World Series title with expert finishing and dominant displays.

Gurney, looking for his first World Series title, proved a tough test early on in the final and had Van Gerwen worried with stronger scoring – but his accuracy on the doubles proved his downfall. Van Gerwen also started brightly, and sunk a 110 checkout in the third leg – the highest of the final – to move 2-1 ahead.

He then broke throw for the first time in the game to move two clear, but Gurney responded strongly to break back and level at 3-3 at the interval. But that was as good as it got for the former World Grand Prix champion, as Van Gerwen rattled off five straight legs to clinch the title.

The Dutchman, who has been struggling for form in recent weeks, came through a tough final day which started with an impressive 8-6 victory over Gary Anderson. This also saw Van Gerwen average over 100 for the first time in 15 matches.

The World Series of Darts will continue from August 23-24 as the PDC stars head to Hamilton for the first time at the Claudelands Arena with bumper crowds expected. A limited number of tickets are still available at https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=DARTS2019

The New Zealand Darts Masters will be broadcast live on Fox Sports across Australia and worldwide through the PDC’s international broadcast partners, as well as through PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers (outside of the UK, Ireland & Netherlands).

UK TV coverage on ITV4 will be from 7pm BST.

Friday, August 16th Results

First Round (11)
(97.62) Simon Whitlock 6-3 Mick Lacey (78.93) 
(106.13) Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Haupai Puha (93.13)
(97.65) Daryl Gurney 6-3 Kyle Anderson (92.46)
(96.97) Gary Anderson 6-0 James Bailey (79.34)
(82.24) Peter Wright 6-4 Corey Cadby (83.80)
(93.25) James Wade 1-6 Damon Heta (100.12)
(93.24) Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Tim Pusey (83.49)
(86.28) Rob Cross 6-2 Robbie King (77.13)

Saturday, August 17th Results

Quarter-Finals (15)
(94.91) Peter Wright 8-6 Raymond van Barneveld (94.40)
(100.63) Michael van Gerwen 8-6 Gary Anderson (95.08)
(102.86) Rob Cross 8-3 Damon Heta (87.20)
(94.74) Daryl Gurney 8-4 Simon Whitlock (92.44)

Semi-Finals (15)
(83.22) Peter Wright 0-8 Michael van Gerwen (97.36)
(96.25) Rob Cross 5-8 Daryl Gurney (98.15)

Final (15)
(99.00) Michael van Gerwen 8-3 Daryl Gurney (100.60)

Current World Series Rankings Table:

23 Points: Peter Wright
19 Points: Rob Cross, Daryl Gurney, Michael van Gerwen
15 Points: Damon Heta
12 Points: Nathan Aspinall
10 Points: Gary Anderson
8 Points: Michael Smith, Gabriel Clemens, Simon Whitlock
7 Points: James Wade, Raymond van Barneveld
5 Points: Mensur Suljovic, Gerwyn Price
4 Points: Kyle Anderson
3 Points: Nico Kurz, Martin Schindler.
2 Points: Corey Cadby, James Bailey, Haupai Puha,
1 Point: Max Hopp, Kevin Munch, Christian Bunse, Robert Marijanovic, Maik Langendorf, Danny Baggish, Shawn Brennerman, Leonard Gates, Jim Long, Gary Mawson, Elliot Milk, Jeff Smith, Darin Young, Koha Kokiri, Brendon McCausland, Ben Robb, Mick Lacey, Robbie King, Tim Pusey,