DIMITRI Van den Bergh has beaten Luke Humphries to triumph in the UK Open in front of a crowd of 5,000 in Minehead.
The Belgian claimed the title in a dramatic deciding 21st leg, in which his opponent Humphries missed two championship darts.
This title is just Van den Bergh’s second major title, adding to his World Matchplay win in 2020. The victory in Somerset will see him rise to 7th in the PDC Order of Merit.
Humphries’s remarkable recent form in major finals has now taken a hit, with ‘Cool Hand’ losing in one for the first time since claiming his first in the 2023 Grand Prix.
In the final a combined total of eight match darts were missed, with Humphries failing to convert both Double 16 and Double 8 in the visit before Van den Bergh won the crown.
Van den Bergh rushed into a 4-1 leg lead at the first break, breaking Humphries’ first throw with a stunning 124 finish.
A decisive moment came in leg 12, with Humphries 7-4 down. He would hit successive 180’s but narrowly miss D20 for a 15 dart finish.
The eventual champion would punish this mistake, with a second 100+ finish of 130 to go 8-4 up.
The drama would continue, with Humphries pulling it back to 8-7 with a fantastic 116 out, that Van den Bergh would refuse to watch.
Van den Bergh would win successive legs to throw for the match, and he took no less than a minute to compose himself and begin the leg, to which the crowd began to cheer for Humphries.
This composure would not immediately pay off for Van den Bergh, as he missed a total of five match darts in the leg, as Humphries nailed the bullseye.
With the match at 10-9, Van den Bergh would again miss a championship dart again at D20, with Humphries hitting Double 10 to force a deciding leg.
Humphries would be first to shine in the decider by hitting a maximum at his second visit, but he would then miss Double 16 and Double 8 for his chance to win the Open for a first time.
Van den Bergh’s seventh attempt at a match dart would be successful, avenging his D20 demons by hitting a perfect dart to claim the title.
He would drop to the floor, and in his post match interview he would not be able to hold back the tears as he dedicate the win to his late grandfather.
Speaking to ITV, he said: “My grandad died two years ago and this is my first major win since. This is gold and it’s for him. You win some, you lose some, you have got to dig deep and keep trying.”
“Right here right now I have got gold, Grandad! I’ve got gold!”
Van Den Burgh beat Brendan Dolan, Vincent Van der Voort, Johnny Clayton , Martin Lukeman and Damon Heta en-route to lifting the trophy.
