David Pallett and Lerena Rietbergen produced impressive performances to claim the first European WDF titles of the year at the Romanian Classic.
Perfect comeback for Pallett
Having play at the 2023 WDF World Championships, David Pallett took a year away from the tour to look after his newborn child and rediscover his game.
That break proved the trick, as the Englishman returned to action in Bucharest and won the Men's Classic, his first tournament of the year and first WDF title since July 2022.
The best description for Pallett's run is very consistent, who claimed the crown with a 5-3 final victory over tour newcomer Brandon Stow.
Devon's Stow, who has only been playing darts for a few months, had shown quality in his run to the final, beating Neil Duff in a last-leg decider before seeing off Aaron Turner and Paul Croucher to reach the final.
Stow took the opening two legs of the final before Pallett fired back into contention, a 16-dart break and 15-dart hold the start of a four-leg burst that took him to within one of the title.
Stow halved the deficit with a 100 finish but was unable to force a decider, Pallett stepping in to take out 14 with the last dart in hand to triumph 5-3.
Pallett had averaged in the mid 80s for most of his run, seeing off Corne Groeneveld in a last-leg decider and then John Michael 4-1 to reach the quarter-finals.
It was there that he turned the afterburners on and then some, recording a career-best average of 108.99 in a blistering 4-1 win over Sweden's Johan Engstrom. Engstrom, meanwhile, had accounted for 2024 champion Jimmy van Schie in the Last 16.
Pallett didn't reach the same dizzy heights in the semis but still averaged more than 90, winning four straight legs in 17, 11, 13 and 18 darts to beat Raymond van den Ende 4-2.
Romanian Classic | Quarter-Finals
David Pallett 4-1 Johan Engstrom
Raymond van den Ende 4-1 Marko Kantele
Brandon Stow 4-0 Aaron Turner
Paul Croucher 4-2 Jack Hill
Semi-Finals
Pallett 4-2 van den Ende
Stow 4-2 Croucher
Final
Pallett 5-3 Stow
Romania glory for Rietbergen
Only Beau Greaves and Rhian O'Sullivan have claimed more WDF ranking points over the last 12 months than Lerena Rietbergen, who continued her ascent in the Women's game with victory in the Women's Romanian Classic.
Rietbergen was top seed in Bucharest and she dominated the competition on the way to her sixth WDF senior title.
She raced into the quarter-finals without dropping a leg and after beating Kirsty Hutchinson 4-1 at that stage, recorded another whitewash in the semis against Irina Armstrong.
That set up a final with Sophie McKinlay, who'd averaged almost 86 in the semis against Deta Hedman to book a rematch of last year's Lakeside semi-final.
It was a very high-quality start to the final, with Rietbergen throwing two maximums in the first two legs and pegging an 88 finish to go 2-0 up.
McKinlay fought back but was unable to repeat her heroics at Lakeside, with Rietbergen sealing revenge with a 59 out that sealed her victory 5-2.
Women's Romanian Classic | Quarter-Finals
Lerena Rietbergen 4-1 Kirsty Hutchinson
Irina Armstrong 4-0 Aileen de Graaf
Sophie McKinlay 4-1 Amy Evans
Deta Hedman 4-1 Hannah Meek
Semi-Finals
Rietbergen 4-0 Armstrong
McKinlay 4-0 Hedman
Final
Rietbergen 5-2 McKinlay
