International Darts Open: Peter Wright wins his 10th title of 2017 by defeating Kim Huybrechts in the final

Our darts expert Chris Hammer flagged up the Belgian in his pre-event betting preview as being a primary contender in the bottom half of the draw and at least some profits for his followers were sealed when Huybrechts defeated the impressive Joe Cullen 6-3 in the semi-finals after seeing off Ian White 6-5 and Gerwyn Price 6-4 earlier on Sunday.

The 2016 runner-up was hoping to banish memories of , in which he missed seven match darts, and he looked well on course to do just that when leading Wright 4-2.

Snakebite, who averaged 102.65 compared to Huybrechts' 92.44 despite being outscored on the 180s count 4-3, stormed back to win the next three legs before the Hurricane responded to force an 11th leg but Wright used the advantage of throwing first to almost perfection by landing a 12-darter, which he finished on a stylish 116 checkout to scoop the £25,000 first prize.

Wright now joins an elite group of just four players in PDC history to land 10 or more tournaments in a calendar year, following in the footsteps of Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and John Part.

The 47-year-old had been outright favourite from the off after world number one van Gerwen opted to skip the event to rest up for next week's World Grand Prix and he justified that position by working his way into his 16th PDC final of the season - and fifth on the European Tour.

Wright, who has enjoyed a landmark 2017 which saw him claim a maiden TV title at the UK Open, has now won all five of his European Tour finals this year, including two over MVG in Hildesheim and Sindelfingen.

He's also been runner-up in the Premier League and the World Matchplay so he'll now doubt have plenty of backers ahead of the World Grand Prix.

The world number three had earlier battled past Kim's older brother Ronny Huybrechts and Jelle Klaasen before he was given a real test by surprise semi-finalist Ron Meulenkamp.

The 28-year-old Dutchman was enjoying by far his best weekend on the PDC circuit, following up his shock win over fourth seed Michael Smith on Saturday with victories over Josh Payne and European Tour debutant Dennis Nilsson, who had continued his dream run of his own by knocking out out Dave Chisnall.

He averaged a stunning 105.89 against Wright and fired in a 167 checkout but ultimately Snakebite's superior finishing proved decisive as he ran out a 6-3 winner.

Huybrechts' semi-final opponent Cullen had produced the tournament of the weekend on Saturday by averaging 113.77 against Richie Corner and he maintained the momentum by beating Alan Norris and Simon Whitlock by 6-3 scorelines.

The Rockstar was marginal favourite to beat Huybrechts and although he got off to a slow start, he nearly raised the roof at the SACHSENarena at 3-0 when his attempt at double 18 for a nine-darter agonisingly hit the big number.

He took a further four darts to get off the mark but never fought his way back in contention as the world number 13 reached his second PDC final of the season although he's now still waiting for his first title since the 2015 European Darts Grand Prix.

Earlier in the day, ended in the third round as he suffered a 6-5 defeat to 15th seed Price.

The result brought to an end Suljovic's six-match winning run which began at last weekend's Champions League of Darts, where he so impressively defeated Wright, Dave Chisnall, Raymond Barneveld and Gary Anderson (twice) to claim his maiden televised PDC major.

Despite disappointment in Riesa, he'll still head to the World Grand Prix in Dublin next week as a realistic contender for glory and you can currently back him at .

International Darts Open: Tournament results

Friday September 22
First Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm BST)

• Brendan Dolan 6-0 Andy Hamilton
• Steve Lennon 6-2 Simon Stevenson
• Darren Webster 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
• Christian Kist 6-5 Justin Pipe
• Chris Quantock 6-3 Dragutin Horvat 
• William O'Connor 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh 
• Ron Meulenkamp 6-1 Mick McGowan
• Josh Payne 6-4 Bernd Roith

Evening Session (6pm-10pm BST)

• John Michael 6-3 Nandor Bezzeg
• Keegan Brown 6-4 Michael Plooy
• Max Hopp 6-4 Mark Webster
• Ronny Huybrechts 6-4 Ted Evetts
• Peter Jacques 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
• Richie Corner 6-3 Martin Schindler
• Dennis Nilsson 6-5 Steve Beaton
• Kyle Anderson 6-1 Jerry Hendriks

CLICK HERE FOR FRIDAY ROUND-UP

Saturday September 23
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm BST)

• Gerwyn Price 6-4 Steve Lennon
• Ian White 6-3 Keegan Brown
• Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Brendan Dolan
• Mervyn King 6-2 John Michael
• Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Christian Kist
• Cristo Reyes 4-6 Ronny Huybrechts
• Benito van de Pas 2-6 Peter Jacques
• Joe Cullen 6-1 Richie Corner

Evening Session (6pm-10pm BST)

• Dave Chisnall 6-4 Darren Webster
• Daryl Gurney 5-6 Dennis Nilsson
• Michael Smith 3-6 Ron Meulenkamp
• Peter Wright 6-2 Chris Quantock
• Rob Cross 4-6 Josh Payne
• Mensur Suljovic 6-3 William O'Connor
• Alan Norris 6-1 Max Hopp
• Simon Whitlock 6-4 Kyle Anderson

CLICK HERE FOR SATURDAY ROUND-UP

Sunday September 24
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round

• Peter Wright 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
• Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Peter Jacques
• Dennis Nilsson 6-5 Dave Chisnall
• Ron Meulenkamp 6-3 Josh Payne
• Mensur Suljovic 5-6 Gerwyn Price
• Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Ian White
• Alan Norris 3-6 Joe Cullen
• Simon Whitlock 6-1 Mervyn King

Evening Session (6pm-10pm BST)

Quarter-Finals

• Peter Wright 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
• Dennis Nilsson 2-6 Ron Meulenkamp
• Gerwyn Price 4-6 Kim Huybrechts
• Joe Cullen 6-3 Simon Whitlock

Semi-Finals

• Peter Wright 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
• Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Joe Cullen

Final

• Peter Wright 6-5 Kim Huybrechts

Related Darts Links

• PDC tournament calendar & results
• World Grand Prix draw & schedule
• World Grand Prix: Nine-darters

By Chris Hammer