With eight North Americans facing off against eight PDC professionals, it was hoped that there could be a number of good victories on home soil.  Sadly, only two North Americans have reached the second, with the glory going to the Canadian pairing of Dave Richardson and Dawson Murschell.  North American Championship runner-up Richardson saw off the efforts of German youngster Max Hopp, while Murschell squeezed out a 6-5 win over James Wade.

The pair could easily have been joined by North American Champion Willard Bruguier, but some missed doubles were to prove costly.

Sadly, both Murschell and Richardson fell at the first stage on Saturday.  Gerwyn Price raced into a 3-0 lead before a nice 14-darter got Murschell on the board.  Dawson managed to keep in range, there was no way back as the Welshman kept control to run out an 8-4 winner.

Richardson, on the other hand, gained the early initiative with a nice 16-dart opener against World #1 Michael van Gerwen.  The Dutchman bounced back immediately to take the next three legs, but the fifth proved to be the real turning point of the game.  Richardson failed narrowly from a 130 check – and then missed a clear handful at the remaining 10.  Soon, 4-1 was 8-1, and the North American challenge was over.

With a European winner now guaranteed, it was World #1 Michael van Gerwen who claimed the title with a hard-earned victory over Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney.  Gurney showed some great stuff through the event, and disposed of both Peter Wright  and Gary Anderson.  Another brilliant performance followed in the final, but van Gerwen was able to hang on for yet another tournament triumph.

Round 1
Daryl Gurney 6 – 2 D.J. Sayre
Gerwyn Price 6 – 4 Willard Bruguier
Dave Richardson 6 – 3 Max Hopp
Raymond van Barneveld 6 – 3 David Cameron
Dawson Murschell 6 – 5 James Wade
Peter Wright 6 – 3 Shawn Brenneman
Michael van Gerwen 6 – 0 Chris White
Gary Anderson 6 – 0 Jayson Barlow

Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 8 – 4 Dawson Murschell
Michael van Gerwen 8 – 1 Dave Richardson
Gary Anderson 8 – 4 Raymond van Barneveld
Daryl Gurney 8 – 7 Peter Wright

Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 8 – 0 Gerwyn Price
Daryl Gurney 8 – 4 Gary Anderson

Final
Michael van Gerwen 8 – 6 Daryl Gurney

For detailed reports and statistics, check the PDC website here.

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