Referenews

Dave Chisnall beats Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton on his route to victory over Luke Humphries in the final of the Intwetten Baltic Sea Darts Open, clinching his fourth PDC European Tour title.

Dave Chisnall claimed his fourth PDC European Tour title as he opened the 2023 season with an 8-5 victory over Luke Humphries in the final of the Intwetten Baltic Sea Darts Open title in Kiel on Sunday night.

The year’s opening £175,000 European Tour event saw a record-breaking number of maximums landed across the three days at the Wunderino Arena, before Chisnall left with the £30,000 top prize.

Humphries had won four European Tour titles during 2022 and was bidding to back up his No 1 seeding with another success – but saw Chisnall prove too strong in an entertaining decider.

Chisnall took the opening three legs without reply, capitalising on four early missed doubles from Humphries to take command.

Humphries hit back to level, landing legs of 13 and 12 darts along the way, and also shared the next two before Chisnall pulled clear.

Legs of 12 and 13 darts gave Chisnall breathing space, and double five gave him a third successive leg – and though Humphries took the next to keep his hopes alive, double five for a 13-darter sealed glory.

“I’ve had a great tournament,” said Chisnall, who hit eight 180s in the final. “Luke is phenomenal, so I’m glad to get a win over him.

“You always need a bit of luck, and I think both Jonny Clayton and Martin Schindler could have both beaten me but I dug deep.

“I’m playing good darts at the moment and hopefully it continues. I love playing in front of [German fans], they’ve been a great crowd and gave me so much respect.”

Chisnall’s average of 101.31 in the final was bettered by his sensational 107.04 average to see off Gerwyn Price in Sunday afternoon’s third round.

He then edged past German favourite Martin Schindler in the quarter-finals before winning an extraordinary semi-final with Jonny Clayton 7-5.

Clayton hit back from 2-0 down with finishes of 122 and 120 in a five-leg burst to move 5-2 up – only for seven missed doubles in leg eight to prove a turning point.

Chisnall capitalised and took five legs in a row without missing a double – landing an 11-darter, a two-tops 100 checkout and 88 on the bull to secure his spot in a tenth European Tour final, where he claimed a fourth title.

World No 5 Humphries leaves Kiel with £12,000 as runner-up after suffering defeat in a European Tour final for the first time.

The top seed was in fine form as he overcame Dimitri Van den Bergh and Dirk van Duijvenbode to reach the semi-finals, where he survived two missed match darts from Ryan Searle in the closing stages of the contest.

Premier League star Clayton saw off Stephen Bunting and Steve Beaton on Sunday as he reached the last four, while Searle’s run to the same stage saw him overcome Martijn Dragt and Keegan Brown for the loss of just three legs before he was edged out by Humphries.