A WEEK IN DARTS – JUNE 24, 2024 – CHISNALL CELEBRATES SEVENTH EUROPEAN TOUR SUCCESS The European Tour resumed in Leverkusen at the weekend and saw plenty of drama with big finishes, big averages and Dave Chisnall back lifting silverware. Here’s our recap of the last seven days in the world of darts… CHIZZY ADDS TO TITLE HAUL IN LEVERKUSEN Dave Chisnall moved up to seven career titles on the European Tour with a hard-fought 8-6 victory against Ross Smith in the European Darts Open final on Sunday. ‘Chizzy’ had claimed a hat-trick of tournament wins on the continent in 2023, but went into the eighth European Tour event of this season having yet to reach a single quarter-final. But the former Lakeside finalist would put that right in Leverkusen, claiming wins over Luke Woodhouse, Kevin Doets, Ryan Searle, Damon Heta and Smith to scoop the £30,000 top prize. A SEVENTH EUROPEAN TOUR TITLE FOR CHISNALL 🏆Two huge checkouts get Dave Chisnall over the line as he is crowned the 2024 https://t.co/xAz7XUSd2K European Darts Open Champion!He beats Ross Smith 8-6 to lift the title 👏 pic.twitter.com/ehWQOnLXV7 — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 23, 2024 Chisnall led the final 6-3 before Smith, appearing in his second European Tour decider of the year, rallied with three straight legs to level at 6-6. The Chisnall throw was put under severe pressure in the next leg, as Smith threw a 180 to leave 32 after 12 darts, only to see the second seed check out 132 on the bullseye to hold for a 7-6 lead. And the St Helens ace wrapped up the title moments later, finishing 100 in two darts to complete an 8-6 win and secure the seventh European Tour title of his career. “This means everything,” said Chisnall, who is now the fourth-most successful player in European Tour history, behind Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright. “I think the 132 was the match-winner to be fair. We weren’t at our best in the final, but I’m really, really good friends with Ross. “There could only be one winner and I’m glad it was me, but I love that guy to bits, and we’ve both had a great weekend.” An exciting weekend of action also saw Stephen Bunting register the fourth-highest average in European Tour history, with a stunning 117.12 average in his 6-0 win against Owen Bates in the last 16. Elsewhere, Heta and Chris Dobey served up a clinic of 100+ finishes in their third-round tie, with Dobey checking out a 170, only for Heta to reply with four big checkouts of his own, including a trio of 124 kills. BREATHTAKING BUNTING 🤯The fourth best average EVER on the European Tour from Stephen Bunting as he averages 117.12 in a 6-0 win over Owen Bates. That was utterly ridiculous from The Bullet!📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8 pic.twitter.com/RTkhVIgw3B — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 23, 2024 GREAVES MAKES MORE HISTORY Beau Greaves continued to write her name in the record books after becoming the first female player to win a Development Tour title at the weekend. The reigning back-to-back WDF women’s world champion won through a field of 250 players to pick up the Event 11 title in Wigan on Friday. The 20-year-old defeated Daniel Perry 5-1 in the final to clinch the £2,500 prize, on a weekend that saw the five titles shared between five different players. 🏹 Since Beau Greaves made her debut in the Women's Series, there have been 47 averages over 100 by women across PDC, WDF, and Modus Super Series matches. Beau has produced 32 of those. pic.twitter.com/nNMI6UPElD — Darts Orakel (@DartsOrakel) June 22, 2024 Ireland’s Keane Barry won his third title of the season, beating Angelo Balsamo 5-2 in the Event 12 decider, which moved him to the top of the Order of Merit. On Saturday, Wessel Nijman doubled his title tally for 2024 after picking up Event 13, seeing off Niko Springer 5-2 in the final to catapult him up to second in the rankings. Northern Ireland’s Nathan Rafferty moved on to 12 career Development Tour titles, as he got the better of Marvin van Velzen 5-3 in the final of Event 14. The last title of the weekend went to Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki, who edged out Levy Frauenfelder 5-4 in the Event 15 decider. With just nine events of the season left to go, Barry (£10,425) leads the way ahead of Nijman (£10,275) and Gian van Veen (£9,350). WALES DOMINATE THE SIX NATIONS Wales enjoyed a memorable Six Nations Cup winning both team titles and the women’s singles in Galway at the weekend. The Wales men’s team defeated England 13-9 in the final to lift the title, with a run of five straight legs from 1-1 to 6-1 up giving them a strong advantage they would not relinquish. The final of the women’s team event went right down to the wire, with Leanne Topper edging out England’s Paige Pauling in the last leg to clinch a 5-4 win. 𝗖𝘆𝗺𝗿𝘂’𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲!The quintet of Llew Bevan, Sam Cankett, Sean Fisher, Mark Challenger & Terry Nash beat England 13-9 to win the Six Nations! Gwwaaan bois! 🏆🎯🏴 pic.twitter.com/FvHk5pkT7g — Darts Cymru (@DartsCymru) June 23, 2024 Rhian O’Sullivan added to the Welsh success by winning the women’s singles, beating Noa-Lynn van Leuven 5-4 in the final. Wales were denied a clean sweep of the titles though, as Ireland’s Gerard McGlynn took home the men’s singles crown after defeating Welshman Terry Nash 5-2 in the decider. ENGLAND CAPTAIN STEPS UP TO THE OCHE It was the England captain Harry Kane’s turn to take on the media in the darts challenge at their base camp during UEFA Euro 2024. The Three Lions have been testing their darts skills against members of the media in a three-dart challenge, and trailed 3-0 after England’s number one Jordan Pickford had lost on his appearance in front of the media. Harry Kane gets the win over Henry Winter! 🎯🤝It is now 3-3 between the media and the England team (after the media had raced into a 3-0 lead) what a comeback! 😅 pic.twitter.com/w8Ovd25QFC — Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 23, 2024 But Kane got Gareth Southgate’s squad back on track on the oche with a victory for the players, before he spoke to the assembled press ahead of their last group match against Slovenia on Tuesday. Darts Corner has supplied the England team with their darts equipment at the Euros. Shop our officially licensed range of England darts here! Take a look at our full range of dartboards, darts shirts, dart flights and darts cases to complete your darts setup. Pictures: Jonas Hunold/PDC Europe Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts. Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.