MICHAEL VAN GERWEN showed great form in the final, winning the first five legs without reply to leave The Wizard reeling, including a 78 finish and an 11-darter to break throw twice, along with a 96 finish for a 14-darter which featured his second 180 of the game.

Whitlock landed his second maximum in leg six before taking out 73 to keep the game alive, but a missed bullseye in the next leg allowed van Gerwen to step in and seal the triumph on double 16.

Whitlock enjoyed his first run to a ranking final since October 2010 with his display in Birmingham, as he maintained the form which saw him reach the McCoy's Premier League Darts final last month.

He dropped only three legs in wins over Roland Scholten and Mark Dudbridge before seeing off Premier League rival Andy Hamilton 6-3 to reach the last 16.

After surviving an 11-leg battle with Andy Smith, Whitlock then defeated Mervyn King 6-1 in the quarter-finals and Wes Newton 6-3 in the semis as he earned £3,000 prize money on the day.

Date : 18-06-2012