Michael van Gerwen had tears in his eyes as he tried to describe the feeling of claiming his second PDC World Championship title with a 7-3 win over Gary Anderson at Alexandra Palace.
"This means a lot to me," the 27-year-old said on stage, his deep voice cracking with emotion. "I've worked really hard for this."
Van Gerwen became the youngest winner of this trophy in 2014, but tasted bitter defeats to Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld the last two years, in the semifinals and third round respectively.
It was fitting, then, that the world No. 1 -- who has swept all before him this season claiming 26 titles -- beat those very two men on his way to recapturing the World Championship.
He did it in style with a 108.06 average, while Anderson himself had a 104.93 average. Between them, they combined for a record single match total of 42 180s, while the record for tournament 180s also fell.
"I feel absolutely over the moon," Van Gerwen added. "I brought my A-game. My average says it all I think. I'm a really happy man. I've been fighting all year for this. This is the most important one of the year. All the players know that. We all fight for this really hard. I'm glad I did the right things in the right moments. Gary is a phenomenal player."
Van Gerwen had blitzed Van Barneveld in Sunday's semifinal and started in similar mood here, racing into a 6-2 lead until the Scotsman staged a late rally.
The Dutchman moved to within a leg of victory at 2-1 in the ninth set, before losing his concentration when a member of the crowd made his way onto the stage and attempted to hand him the Sid Waddell trophy.
"It was a bit sad to be fair, during the game. I was in full concentration," said Van Gerwen. "You've always got people like that, they try to be funny."
At least Van Gerwen saw the funny side, though, quipping: "He wanted to give me the trophy, it was really nice of him."
Two-time reigning champion Anderson refused to lay down and forced a 10th set, but Van Gerwen held his nerve.
"This boy will be quite good, I reckon in about two years he'll be a top dog!" joked Anderson. "It's been a walk in the park for him this year, tonight was the same. But I've had a good three years."
Anderson had managed to stay with Van Gerwen for the opening stages of the match, with the score tied at two sets all before the Scotsman lost 13 out of the next 15 legs.
"I just started to drop," he added. "If you do that, you're gonna get punished. The boy done it."