High five for Wes

Newton, the only seeded player to reach the last four, was defeated 5-1 by the Michael van Gerwen, who last night staged an amazing comeback to win the final at Dublin’s CityWest Hotel.

The 23-year-old Dutchman came from four sets to one down against Mervyn King to take the £100,000 title 6-4.

Newton’s £20,000 prize money and his run to the final of last month’s European Championship have lifted him back above Simon Whitlock in the PDC Order of Merit.

Van Gerwen took four sets without reply against Newton in Saturday’s semi to win through to his first major final in a PDC event.

He replied to a 150 finish from Newton in the opening leg by landing a 136 checkout and took the opening set 3-2.

Newton, whose run to the semis included a victory over fellow Fylde favourite Ronnie Baxter, won set two by the same score, hitting key finishes of 90 and 96.

The Fylde 35-year-old also posted a 152 checkout as he shared the third set’s first four legs, but a 104 checkout from van Gerwen crucially swung the game his way as he took the set for a 2-1 lead.

He won six of the next eight legs to take command of the match as Newton was unable to match his heavy scoring, and the Dutchman won the sixth set 3-1 to triumph and move into the final.

King Defeated Bernard Dolan 5-2 in another one-sided semi-final.

Van Gerwen said of last night’s triumph: “This was the best night of my life. Mervyn started fantastically

well but he gave

me some chances.

I’m not a player

who gives up easily

and this is a dream

come true.”