Third Round
WORLD number one Michael van Gerwen continued his flying start to the European Darts Trophy
He kicked off the final day in Muelheim with a whitewash win over Jason Lovett.
Van Gerwen was not able to replicate the stunning form which saw him average 107.69 in his second round victory over Adam Hunt on Saturday, but did manage a brilliant 10-darter in the second leg and was too strong for Norwich-thrower Lovett as he booked his place in the quarter-finals without breaking sweat.
Dave Chisnall will be van Gerwen's opponent in the quarter-finals after he recovered to defeat Justin Pipe 6-2, landing five 180s in the process.
Pipe started the stronger and moved into a 2-0 lead before Chisnall hit back in style, landing consecutive 180s to raise hopes of a nine-darter , eventually checking out 81 for an 11-dart leg. And the 35-year-old would maintain his form as he took the following five legs on the spin to run out a comfortable victor.
Peter Wright was made to work much harder for his spot in the last eight as he edged past fellow Premier League star Kim Huybrechts 6-5 in an enthralling encounter.
There was never more than a leg between the pair as they continued to trade blows, with Wright landing a brilliant 135 checkout on the bull and Huybrechts responding with an 11-darter en route to forcing a decider, where Snakebite would hold his nerve to break and take the win.
Wright will now face Terry Jenkins after The Bull also secured a deciding leg victory, edging out Adrian Lewis 6-5.
Lewis started in style with a spectacular 10-dart leg but was would be unable to maintain that form as both players struggled on the doubles in a scrappy encounter, before Jenkins capitalised on two missed match darts from Lewis to land a 13-darter and break in the final leg.
Reigning European Darts Trophy champion Michael Smith is also through after he came back to beat Kevin Painter 6-4 in Muelheim.
Finding himself 3-1 behind, Smith sparked a revival with a brilliant 128 checkout and 12-dart leg before wrapping up the victory by taking four of the next five legs as Painter stuttered in the closing stages.
Tenth seed Mervyn King would be another player to win through in a deciding leg as he ended Cristo Reyes' impressive weekend at the RWE Sporthalle.
King appeared to be closing in on a more comfortable victory as he lead 5-3, before Reyes dug deep to take two straight legs and force a decider, where he would miss three match darts allowing King to swoop and take out 96 for the win.
Ian White continued his impressive form of late as he defeated Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 to reach another quarter-final.
Diamond flew out of the blocks, storming into a 5-1 lead before Rodriguez found some form to take the next two legs and pull himself back into the game. It would be too little, too late for the Austrian though as White wrapped up the win in the following leg with a 12-darter, firing in back-to-back maximums in the process.
James Wade ended Robert Thornton's quest for consecutive European Tour titles as he completed the quarter-final lineup with a 6-4 win over the Scot.
Thornton set the tone in the opening leg as he took out 102, before Wade came back with a ton-plus checkout of his own as he expertly checked out 100 to level the match at 2-2, before going on to extend his lead and finishing with a 13-darter.
Final
MICHAEL Smith retained his European Darts Trophy crown.
He added a second European Tour title of the year to his CV as he defeated Michael van Gerwen in Muelheim on Sunday.
Smith found his form on the final day at the RWE Sporthalle, beating Kevin Painter, Mervyn King and Ian White before saving his best for last to see off the world number one in an exhilarating final.
The game was also an exact rematch of the tournament's 2014 final as Smith defeated the Dutchman for a second time and added a third European Tour title to his ever-growing CV.
Having defeated Painter 6-4 earlier in the afternoon, Smith kicked off his evening session with an impressive 6-2 victory over Mervyn King.
Smith kicked off with a 106 checkout en route to opening up a 4-0 lead at the RWE Sporthalle before King took the next two legs of the match on the spin to close the gap. However, his joy would be short-lived as Smith moved quickly to wrap up the win, finishing in style with a superb 144 checkout.
The Bully Boy, who also won the International Darts Open in Riesa earlier this year, then secured his spot in another European Tour final with an impressive 6-3 win over White.
Smith expertly checked out 136 to move 3-1 in front before White levelled the match in style with an 11-darter having kicked off with successive 180s. The Bully Boy was not to be deterred though as he took three of the final four legs to set up the final showdown with van Gerwen.
And the 24-year-old would produce a quite brilliant display to take the £25,000 top prize as he brushed van Gerwen aside in the final.
In a blistering start, the St Helens ace landed three ton-plus checkouts and two 12-darters in the opening four legs as he raced into a 4-0 lead with van Gerwen averaging an astonishing 116.56 without a leg to his name.
Although the world number one would hit back to register two legs, Smith was too strong and closed out the victory in just 12 minutes, landing double 14 in the final leg.
Van Gerwen had looked in imperious form on the final day, dropping just two legs before the match with Smith as he followed up successive whitewash wins over Jason Lovett and Dave Chisnall with a 6-2 victory against Peter Wright.