Limerick amateur stuns three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen at Players Championship

LIMERICK amateur Michael Flynn enjoyed the biggest moment of his darts career when dumping three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen out of Monday's third Players Championship in the Netherlands.

Thirty two-year-old Flynn pulled off a stunning 6-4 first round win over van Gerwen in Rosmalen, the Netherlands.

West Limerick man Flynn, who works in social care in his day job, was only added to the PDC event's entry list on Sunday morning after a number of withdrawals.

Flynn - nicknamed 'the Flyer' - is ranked 11th on the Challenge Tour, which is used as a reserve list for Players Championship events.

"MVG wasn't the name you want to see as your first opponent - you'd hope for an easier game," Flynn told BBC Sport.

"I knew my form was good coming into the tournament but to beat a three-time world champion is a massive moment in my career."

Flynn was beaten 6-4 by Poland's Tytus Kanik in the next round. Van Gerwen had finished runner-up to Luke Littler in last month's PDC World Championship final

He added: "When you are playing someone like Van Gerwen you have to tune in from the get-go. It kind of opened my eyes to the professional circuit, the standard you have to be at from the off if you want to get a win.

"It will give me confidence moving forward and shows me my game is there if I can continue it and take it back to the Challenge Tour."

World number 10 Chris Dobey won the overall tournament with a comfortable 8-4 victory over Dutch outsider Jelle Klaasen in the final.

There are 34 Players Championship events across the year. The second part of the Rosmalen double-header will take place on Tuesday, with the competition's finals held in Minehead from 21 to 23 November.