World Series of Darts: Michael van Gerwen hits nine-dart finish and wins fifth title
- Published
Michael van Gerwen won his fifth World Series of Darts title and hit the tournament's first nine-dart finish to delight his home fans in Amsterdam.
The Dutchman saw off England's Nathan Aspinall 11-4 in the final for his fourth televised triumph this year.
Three-time PDC world champion Van Gerwen sent the crowd wild with a nine-darter in his 11-10 semi-final win over Luke Humphries.
Aspinall beat compatriot Peter Wright 11-9 to reach the final.
"The biggest challenge for me was the pressure of playing in front of the home crowd, but they have been absolutely fantastic this weekend," said Van Gerwen.
"Even Luke Humphries after our semi-final said that the crowd were phenomenal, and you can only be proud of that."
Aspinall said of Van Gerwen: "In my era, he's the best, and it's an honour to share the stage with him.
"Even though I lost, I'm so glad he's won in front of his home crowd because he deserves it."
Despite Van Gerwen's nine-darter in the second leg against Humphries, he had to survive three match darts in the penultimate leg before winning the decisive final leg with a 12-darter.
Van Gerwen won the first three World Series of Darts events from 2015 to 2017 and again in 2019.
Last year's winner, Welshman Gerwyn Price, lost 6-4 to Keegan Brown on Saturday.