Team Unicorn ace Dimitri van den Bergh reached his first senior PDC final at the German Darts Masters.
But after amazing victories over Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson, he couldn’t get over the line on a record breaking day as he lost the final 8-2 to Mensur Suljovic in front of a World record 20,000 crowd at the Veltins Arena.
However, the PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion can still be extremely proud of his achievements.
“I guess I just ran out of gas in the final,” he said. “But it has been one of the best days of my life. To beat Michael and Gary for the first time and to do it in front of this crowd was unreal. This is a catalyst for me. I want more.”
Sadly, he just couldn’t get going in the final and was 5-1 down very quickly as Suljovic nailed some superb check-outs.....109, 100 and 80. The Austrian hit eight doubles from 12 attempts in his semi-final win over Peter Wright and he was 8/13 against Van den Bergh.
Two 11 darters and a 102 average and on this occasion, Dimitri has nothing to give, but it was still an astonishing day for him.
Dimitri won an extraordinary semi-final with Anderson in a thriller of an all Unicorn clash. The only time the Belgian was ahead was when he hit the winning double in the deciding leg.
Gary will feel he threw it away. He outscored Van den Bergh throughout but the 23-year-old hit some incredible finishes under pressure. The Scot led 5-3 at the break and was sat on 36 to extend his lead but Dimitri hit a superb 111 check-out.
Anderson then missed two darts in both the 10th and 12th legs but when he broke throw to lead 7-6, they’re looked to be only one winner. He then banged in a third 180 to leave D4 for the match. Incredibly though, Van den Bergh hit a sensational 124 finish on D11 to force the decider.......he kicked off with a fifth maximum and never looked back as he clinched victory with an 11 darter!
His win over Van Gerwen was emphatic. He won six out of seven legs to stun the World No.1 in what was the biggest win of his life. Then he took out Anderson! It was an amazing day.
In the 1st Round, Van den Bergh whitewashed Martin Schindler as he hit his highest ever average on a TV stage.....109.98
Anderson had beaten Gabriel Clemens and Jamie Lewis and looked set for another World Series title before Van den Bergh intervened!
Gelsenkirchen results - 1st Round:
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Manfred Bilderl Jamie Lewis 6-5 Nico Kurz Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Robert Marijanovic Gary Anderson 6-2 Gabriel Clemens Dimitri van den Bergh 6-0 Martin Schindler Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Max Hopp Peter Wright 6-1 Dragutin Horvat Rob Cross 6-4 Stefan Stoyke
Q/Finals:
Gary Anderson 8-6 Jamie Lewis
Michael van Gerwen 3-8 Dimitri van den Bergh Peter
Wright 8-7 Raymond van Barneveld
Rob Cross 7-8 Mensur Suljovic
S/Finals:
Gary Anderson 7-8 Dimitri van den Bergh
Peter Wright 2-8 Mensur Suljovic
Final:
Dimitri van den Bergh 2-8 Mensur Suljovic
By STUART PYKE at the German Darts Masters in Gelsenkirchen
Photo courtesy PDC
