Michael van Gerwen showed his class with a wonderful post-match gesture after Stephen Bunting lifted his first-ever televised PDC title.
After recording victories over Ross Smith, Luke Humphries, Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall, the in-form Bunting came up against three-time world champion Van Gerwen in Sunday's Cazoo Masters final.
It was a daunting task given Van Gerwen's performances at last month's Dutch Darts Masters, when he denied Luke Littler from securing back-to-back World Series titles with an impressive win.
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But 'The Bullet' produced a sublime performance against the Dutchman, hitting eight 180s before clinching the tie with a 14-darter.
A short time later, an emotional Bunting called his son, Toby, onto the stage to take a picture with the PDC trophy.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, was heading for the exit at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes when he changed direction, just so he could have a word with Toby.
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The Dutchman has, in the past, been labelled as somewhat of a villain by darts fans but this was another moment of class.
“Stephen is the form guy," Van Gerwen said at his post-match press conference.
"I thought I was playing a bit better, but I couldn’t make the difference. He put me under a lot of pressure. Fair play to him. He played really well throughout the whole tournament.”
Here's how fans on social media reacted to the scenes.
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One said: "MVG is one of the classiest guys in the whole of sport. The way he takes losses is so gracious impresses me every time."
A second wrote: "Respect this from MVG tbf. Not a big fan of him and he hasn’t been too respectful to a lot of players, but this is a class act."
A third commented: "Couldn’t think of a better guy to be the face of darts, class act," while a fourth added: "Class act."
Bunting was understandably delighted with the victory. "I really deserved this trophy this week after beating players who are in the Premier League," he said.
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"That's where I want to get my game back to. Let's see what happens in the future. To do it in front of a crowd that is chanting your name from the moment I stepped foot in Milton Keynes, it means a lot to me.
"I have been in the PDC a lot of years now and this means an awful lot. It shows the practice is paying off. I am lost for words.
"I am really happy. My form is good and this is a great start to the season. Hopefully I can push on.
"My main aim after coming over from the BDO was to win titles but when you come over here you are playing the best of the best. These boys will push you all the way."
Featured Image Credit: PDC DartsTopics: Darts
