25/06/2021

ON THIS DAY IN… 2017: Van Gerwen wins Austrian Darts Open after wonderful final against Smith

In 'On This Day In...' Darts News looks back at a player's event or achievement on a particular date. We start with a return to June 25, 2017.

ON THIS DAY IN ... 2017: Beaton wins Players Championship title after impressive winning streak

The Austrian Darts Open was played in Vienna over the weekend of 23-25 June. That Euro Tour tournament had already favored the Dutch in the past, because Michael Van Gerwen won the tournament in 2013, while Vincent van der Voort captured his biggest title of his career at this tournament a year later.

A year later Phil Taylor took the title in Vienna, but The Power did not try to defend his title in 2017. Former tournament winners Van Gerwen and Van der Voort were there. Van der Voort was eliminated in the second round by Simon Whitlock, while Mighty Mike with smooth victories over Christian Kallinger (6-1), Vincent van der Meer (6-3) and Martin Schindler (6-1) easily reached the semi-final battle.

In the last four he produced a masterclass against Cristo Reyes. The Spaniard was blown away 6-1 thanks to an average of 115.57. At the other end of the schedule, Michael Smith reached his second consecutive final in Austria after beating the likes of Jelle Klaasen (6-4), Mervyn King (6-3) and Joe Cullen (6-4).

The final was therefore between Van Gerwen and Smith, who had already fought a few wonderful duels in Euro Tour finals at the time. It became another cracker between the two rivals.

Smith opened strongly by taking a 2-0 lead, after breaking the Dutchman with a 13-darter. Van Gerwen came back to 2-2, but then Bullyboy took the lead again with an 86 finish on the bullseye. Then it went 4-3 to Smith after he managed to throw a 170 finish.

Van Gerwen, however stayed in the game by throwing a 14-darter for 4-4 and then broke Smith through double 18. Smith then also signed for a break with a 70 checkout and was allowed to start the last leg himself. However, it was Van Gerwen who was first on a finish and the then number one in the world took out 100 for his second title at the Austrian Darts Open.