Mensur Suljovic won Players Championship 26 with a thrilling 8-7 victory over Ian White, despite ‘The Diamond’ averaging 107 and landing a nine-dart finish on a dramatic Sunday afternoon at the Barnsley Metrodome.
Continue reading “Super Suljovic denies nine-dart White at PC26!”
James Wade secured his fifth PDC ranking title of 2019 with an 8-6 victory over Dave Chisnall in Players Championship 24 at the Barnsley Metrodome on Wednesday afternoon.
Continue reading “Fantastic five for Wade in Barnsley!”
Jose De Sousa etched his name into the darting history books by becoming the first Portuguese winner of a PDC event at Players Championship 23 in Barnsley on Tuesday.
Continue reading “De Sousa makes history at Players Championship 23!”
James Wade claimed a third PDC title in the space of eight days after completing a memorable Players Championship double on a thrilling weekend of darts in Barnsley.
Prior to this month, ‘The Machine’ hadn’t won a Players Championship event since July 2015, but the nine-time major winner claimed Players Championship 11 & 12 glory to secure his third floor title in four events.
Continue reading “Double delight for Wade in Barnsley!”
Krzysztof Ratajski claimed his second PDC Pro Tour title of 2018 and a first Players Championship crown with a 6-2 victory over Chris Dobey at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading “Comeback King Ratajski seals second PDC title!”
Mickey Mansell claimed his maiden PDC title after defeating two-time world champion Adrian Lewis 6-4 in the final of Players Championship Eight at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading “Players Championship Eight Report!”
Gary Anderson leads the way on the Players Championship Order of Merit after completing a magnificent double in Barnsley over the weekend. ‘The Flying Scotsman’, who clinched the UK Open title just over a week ago, defeated Peter Wright and Jeffrey de Zwaan in the respective finals to take his tally of titles in 2018 to four. Continue reading “Players Championship Order of Merit Update!”
Gary Anderson continued his magnificent form by whitewashing both Rob Cross and Peter Wright to secure the Players Championship Three title at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading “Players Championship Three Report!”
Jonny Clayton clinched his first PDC title with a spectacular 6-1 victory over former BDO number one James Wilson in the final Players Championship event of the year at the Barnsley Metrodome on Wednesday evening. Continue reading “Players Championship 22 Report!”
Rob Cross’ incredible debut season in the PDC continued as he defeated world number five Adrian Lewis to clinch his fourth Players Championship title of the year at the Barnsley Metrodome on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading “Players Championship 21 Report & Results!”
Robert Thornton, Mervyn King and Paul Nicholson were three of the high-profile names to secure qualification through to the HappyBet German Darts Open on Friday evening, as Steve Beaton landed a spectacular nine-dart finish on a dramatic night of action in Barnsley. Continue reading “European Tour 3- UK Qualifier Report!”
The entries for this weekend’s Players Championship double-header in Barnsley have been confirmed, although there are set to be a few big-name absentees; most notably the world’s top two players. Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson will both miss this weekend’s action, as they’re competing in an exhibition in Edinburgh on Saturday. Continue reading “Big names absent for Players Championships 7 & 8!”
Simon Whitlock won his third Pro Tour title of the year with victory over the giant-killing Darren Johnson, on a cracking day of action at Players Championship Four at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading “Players Championship Four: Report & Results!”
Gary Anderson clinched his first title of the year with a magnificent victory over his compatriot Peter Wright in the second Players Championship event at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading “Anderson averages 115.15 to stun Snakebite and win Players Championship Two!”
Alan Norris claimed the opening Players Championship event of the year after defeating inspired debutant Peter Jacques at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday afternoon. Norris performed superbly throughout the day; dropping just 14 legs en route to scooping the £10,000 winner’s cheque and securing his second Players Championship title. Continue reading “Players Championship One Report!”
Former finalist Robert Thornton was among the eight players to qualify for next month’s Grand Slam of Darts after coming through the PDC qualifier at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday afternoon, on a day which saw five players book maiden appearances in Wolverhampton.
Thornton booked his return to the Civic Hall after a string of fine performances on Sunday afternoon. ‘The Thorn’ dropped just five legs in his four matches, kicking off proceedings by beating both Scott Dale and Andy Hamilton 5-1.
The former World Grand Prix champion then defeated Calum Loose 5-2 in round-three to set up a decisive clash with Andrew Gilding. The Scot then prevailed in comprehensive fashion, recording his third 5-1 triumph of the day.
Brendan Dolan came through successive deciding leg shoot-outs to seal his place in Wolverhampton next month. Dolan began his qualification campaign with victories over Ryan Harrington and Jan Dekker, before edging out Nigel Heydon 5-4.
The Northern Irishman then faced a decisive fourth-round battle with Kim Huybrechts who had lost just the solitary leg in his preceeding three matches. However, Dolan squeezed past the Belgian in an attritional deciding-leg to confirm his qualification. Continue reading “Grand Slam of Darts 2016- Qualifiers Confirmed!”
Benito van de Pas clinched his third Players Championship title of the year with a comprehensive 6-1 victory over Dave Chisnall in the final Pro Tour event of 2016 at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday afternoon.
The 23-year-old Dutchman, who broke into the world’s top 16 earlier this year, capitalised on an error-strewn display from Chisnall to scoop the £10,000 winner’s cheque, whilst also securing second spot on the final Players Championship Order of Merit.
Van de Pas opened his account in Saturday’s final with a solid 16-dart hold on tops, but Chisnall fired back by pinning D10, having missed tops for a 160 checkout in the preceding visit. However, the Dutchman regained his lead in leg three, kicking off the leg with a magnificent 177, before converting D16 for a classy 13-dart leg.
Nevertheless, the fourth leg saw farcical finishing from both players. Chizzy spurned an incredible ELEVEN darts at double to restore parity, and after missing 8 darts at double, Van de Pas eventually hit D1 to secure an important break. Continue reading “Van de Pas demolishes Chisnall to win Players Championship 20!”
Simon Whitlock fired in a 9-darter en route to winning his second successive Players Championship crown after beating young star Chris Dobey 6-4 in the final at the Barnsley Metrodome on Friday afternoon. ‘The Wizard’ landed the 9-darter in his first-round demolition of Par Riihonen, before going on to scoop the £10,000 winner’s cheque.
Whitlock kicked off Friday’s final with a clinical 109 checkout, before doubling his lead after following up his first maximum by pinning D4. Dobey opened his account with a 90 checkout, although the former European Champion regained his two-leg lead after converting a crucial 64 finish.
Dobey profited from Whitlock’s profligacy in the fifth leg as he reduced the arrears to 3-2, but the next three legs went with throw as the Australian moved to the brink of victory. Dobey preserved his hopes by taking out D4 in the ninth leg, but he was unable to deny ‘The Wizard’, who held throw in leg ten to clinch his 13th PDC Pro Tour triumph.
Whitlock kicked off the day in sublime fashion, whitewashing Par Riihonen and firing in the 9th perfect leg of his PDC career. The Australian followed this up with an emphatic 6-2 win against former World Youth finalist Nathan Aspinall, before producing a stunning display to whitewash former major finalist Mervyn King.
Whitlock faced eight-time major finalist James Wade in round-three, with ‘The Machine’ having dropped just four legs in his three matches. However, the Aussie ace prevailed, winning 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Jamie Lewis. Continue reading “Nine-dart Whitlock wins second straight Players Championship title!”
The entries have been confirmed for the upcoming Grand Slam of Darts qualifier and the World Series of Darts Finals qualifier, which will both be hosted at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday 23rd October.
This qualification double-header will follow the final two Players Championship events of the year, which take place on Friday and Saturday. In the Grand Slam qualifier, eight spots will be available to PDC Tour Card holders and PDPA Associate Members who competed at Q-School, with games being played over the best of nine legs throughout.
Additionally, eight “losing finalists” who suffer defeat in the last 16 will form a reserve list in world ranking order, in the event that any of the eight qualifiers go on to secure automatic qualification by reaching the final of either the European Championship or the World Series of Darts Finals.
However, the World Series of Darts Finals qualifier will be comprised solely of PDC Tour card holders, with games being played over the best of eleven legs. Nevertheless, only four spots are available for next month’s event at the Braehead Arena, Glasgow. Continue reading “Entries Confirmed for Grand Slam & World Series qualifiers!”
Phil Taylor will be absent from the Players Championship Finals in Minehead next month, after opting not to enter the final two Players Championship events of the year in Barnsley next week.
The field for next month’s tournament in Minehead is comprised solely of the top 64 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit. Taylor currently sits in 108th position, having won £3,500 from the three events he’s competed in throughout the year, therefore he is unable to make the cut.
‘The Power’ participated in the opening triple-header in Barnsley back in April, but after failing to go beyond the last 16 across either day, he has not competed since. This means that the 16-time world champion will miss out on a TV ranking major for the first time in PDC history.
However, Taylor’s absence in Minehead is self-imposed, as back in May he claimed that he has essentially entered semi-retirement, by prioritising major TV tournaments over a packed Pro Tour schedule.
In an interview with Gulf News, The Stoke-on-Trent star revealed: “I’m 56 this year and I’m slowing down now, I’m semi-retiring. We’re going to sit down in January, Bob [Glenn, his aide] looks after me and my diary and everything. Continue reading “Phil Taylor to miss out on his first TV ranking major in PDC History!”
The entries for the final two Players Championship events of the year have been confirmed, as the race to qualify for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead heats up.
The two £75,000 tournaments will be hosted at the Barnsley Metrodome on October 21-22nd, and the double-header will be streamed live on PDC.TV. A field of 128 players will compete in each tournament, comprised of PDC Tour Card Holders and PDPA Associate Members.
It will be a decisive weekend for a host of big-names, as players bid to win qualification for the Cash Converters Players Championship Finals next month as well as places in the William Hill World Darts Championship.
However, 16-time world champion Phil Taylor has not entered either event, therefore ‘The Power’ will not qualify for next month’s Players Championship Finals. The 56-year-old has gained £3,500 in prize money from his two Players Championship events this year and subsequently sits 108th on the rolling Order of Merit.
Only the top 64 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit will compete in Minehead, and five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld will be vying to secure qualification when he competes in Barnsley next weekend. Continue reading “Players Championship 19 & 20 Entries!”
Below is the Players Championship Order of Merit, following this week’s triple-header at the Barnsley Metrodome. World number one Michael van Gerwen stormed to an unprecedented hat-trick of titles, trousering £30,000 of prize money in the process.
The race is on to qualify for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead in November, with just four events left to secure qualification. The tournament field has been extended to 64 players this year, therefore the Top 64 on the Players Championship Order of Merit will qualify.
James Wilson has climbed up to 10th following his run to the final on Wednesday, whilst Thursday’s finalist Steve West is up to 18th, after the pair accrued £6,000 for finishing as runners-up.
Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld made a successful return to the Pro Tour. Van Barneveld made his first Players Championship appearance since March in Barnsley and won £4,750 in prize money, having reached the last 16, the quarter-finals and the last 32 across the three days.
Barney was 118th on the Players Championship Order of Merit prior to this week, but he has now risen to 61st, and the legendary Dutchman will be competing in next week’s double-header in Dublin, therefore he has the opportunity to guarantee his spot if he matches this week’s performances. Continue reading “Players Championship Order of Merit Update!”
Michael van Gerwen completed an unprecedented hat-trick of Players Championship titles this week with a thrilling deciding leg victory over Steve West on an astonishing day of action which saw THREE nine-darters hit at the Barnsley Metrodome on Thursday afternoon.
Van Gerwen, who defeated Mensur Suljovic and James Wilson on the previous two days of Pro Tour action, continued to break new ground on Thursday. For the second day in succession, ‘The Green Machine’ fired in a 9-darter, before edging out West to clinch his 19th ranking title of the year, already surpassing last year’s tally.
However, whilst Van Gerwen will deservedly receive the plaudits, it was a magnificent day for West, who by virtue of reaching his first ever PDC final, secured a spot at next month’s World Grand-Prix in Dublin at the expense of Vincent van der Voort.
West made a strong start to Thursday’s final by holding throw on tops, before Van Gerwen levelled up with a regulation 67 kill after the pair had traded maximums. However, the Dutchman secured a precious break in leg three, converting a brutal 164 checkout on the bullseye, after West had spurned two darts at double to hold throw.
The next two legs also went against the throw as both players were guilty of profligacy on the doubles, before Van Gerwen secured a two-leg lead at 4-2 after pinning D10.In the seventh leg, the Boxtel ace spurned two darts at tops to move within a leg of victory, and West exploited this by reducing the arrears to 4-3. Continue reading “Van Gerwen completes historic Players Championship hat-trick, whilst THREE nine-darters are hit in Barnsley!”
Michael van Gerwen claimed victory in the first streamed Players Championship event in PDC history, whitewashing the in-form Mensur Suljovic 6-0Â in the final at the Barnsley Metrodome on Tuesday afternoon.
Van Gerwen was in magnificent form throughout the day; dropping just 13 legs in his seven matches. However, he saved his best for the final, where he fired in three maximums to dismantle Suljovic, who was appearing in his first ever Players Championship final- his third Pro Tour final this month.
Van Gerwen clinched a scrappy opening leg on D2, after Suljovic had spurned a dart at D18 to break throw. ‘The Green Machine’ then fired in his first maximum en route to breaking Suljovic’s throw in 13-darts.
The Austrian posted his first maximum as he attempted to register an instant break back, but MvG fired in another 180, before pinning D8 to establish a commanding 3-0 cushion. The Dutchman was growing in confidence and posted visits of 123, 134 and 134 in leg four, before converting 110 for a majestic 12-darter and a second break of throw.
Suljovic was desperate to avoid a whitewash and he gave himself an opportunity to break back after firing in a timely score of 170. However, ‘The Gentle’ spurned two darts at D16 and Van Gerwen nailed tops to complete a 16-dart hold of throw. Continue reading “MvG whitewashes Suljovic on historic day at Players Championship 14!”
The entries for next week’s Players Championship triple-header at the Barnsley Metrodome have been confirmed. The triple-header will take place during midweek, from September 20th-22nd, ahead of the inaugural staging of the Champions League of Darts, which will be the PDC’s first ever tournament televised on the BBC.
The Champions League of Darts, which takes place in Cardiff from September 24-25, sees the world’s top eight players compete in a round-robin format, with two groups of four, where the top two players from each group progress to the semi-finals.
World number one Michael van Gerwen will be present in Barnsley, as will 16-time world champion Phil Taylor. Nevertheless, world champion Gary Anderson has opted not to compete, as he prepares for the PDC’s inaugural competition in Cardiff.
James Wade won’t be competing in Players Championship 14, but he will be in action on the following two days, whereas Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis have chosen not to enter Players Championship 16. The other Champions League of Darts participants- Peter Wright, Robert Thornton & Michael Smith, will compete in all three events.
Elsewhere, five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld will be making his return to Pro Tour action, and he will be joined by his trio of Dutch proteges; Jeffrey de Zwaan, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Mike Zuydwijk.
Continue reading “Players Championship 14, 15, 16 entries confirmed!”
Gerwyn Price secured his maiden PDC ranking title with victory in Players Championship seven, after beating Peter Wright 6-3 in the final on Sunday afternoon at the Barnsley Metrodome.
Price, who appeared in the final of UK Open qualifier 5 back in February, went one better this weekend, defeating the world number five in Sunday’s curtain-raiser to scoop the £10,000 winner’s cheque and continue his march up the world rankings.
Price kicked off the day with a comprehensive 6-1 victory over young Belgian star Dimitri van den Bergh, before narrowly beating Darren Webster to reach round three. The Welshman edged out Daryl Gurney in a deciding leg in the last 32, before then beating Matt Clark 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
Price secured a routine 6-2 victory over Ricky Evans in the last eight, after ‘Rapid’ had seen off Terry Jenkins in the previous round. ‘The Iceman’ then faced sixth seed Benito van de Pas in the semi-finals, but Benito was unable to secure his second Pro Tour title of the year, as Price eased to a 6-2 win to secure a place in his second final of the year.
Continue reading “Gerwyn Price stuns Snakebite to win Players Championship 7!”
Josh Payne won his first senior PDC title at Players Championship six, as he came through an enthralling last-leg decider to edge out eight-time major winner James Wade at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday afternoon.
Payne, 22, has won three Development Tour titles, but this is without doubt the finest moment of his career, as he scooped the £10,000 winner’s cheque by beating ‘The Machine’ in an epic curtain-raiser.
Payne saw off the established trio of Gerwyn Price, Ronny Huybrechts and Wes Newton, before he secured his quarter-final berth with a 6-4 victory over former world finalist Kevin Painter. Payne then edged out Mensur Suljovic 6-5 in the last eight, before overcoming Steve Brown 6-3 to reach his maiden Pro Tour final.
It was a fantastic day for Brown however, as he reached his first PDC ranking semi-final for over 5 years, beating the likes of Joe Cullen, James Richardson, Antonio Alcinas, James Wilson and Simon Whitlock.
Payne faced James Wade in the final, as ‘The Machine’ set his sights on his first Pro Tour victory since July 2015. The left-hander dropped just three legs in dispatching Dave Ladley and Dean Winstanley, before coming through a deciding-leg against Devon Petersen to reach the last 16.
Continue reading “Josh Payne is the shock Players Championship 6 winner!”
The world’s top three players will not be competing in this weekend’s Players Championship double-header in Barnsley. Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor have all opted to take the weekend off and focus on the Premier League, with just under three weeks until final’s night at the O2 Arena on May 19th.
In addition to this, five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld will also not be present at the Barnsley Metrodome. Van Barneveld, who was also absent for the triple-header in Barnsley three weeks ago, is opting to focus primarily on major TV tournaments, rather than Pro Tour events in 2016.
As a consequence, Adrian Lewis will be the highest ranked player competing this weekend, and he’ll be joined by his fellow Premier League stars James Wade, Peter Wright and Robert Thornton.
However, in Van Gerwen’s absence, Peter Wright will be the top seed, and he’ll be hoping to replicate his victory from the first Players Championship event of the year. Michael Smith will be the second seed, whilst Ian White and Benito van de Pas, who both tasted victory in the recent triple-header, will also be in action.
Continue reading “No MvG, Taylor, Anderson or Barney for Players Championship 6-7!”
Ian White won the fifth PDC ranking title of his career with a stunning whitewash victory over world number one Michael van Gerwen in the final of Players Championship five at the Barnsley Metrodome on Sunday afternoon.
White was in imperious form throughout the day and produced his best performance of the afternoon in the curtain raiser against MvG. He averaged 106.2 and hit four maximums en route to scooping the £10,000 winner’s cheque, which will see him move up to 11th on the PDC Order of Merit.
White had won just the solitary game over the first two days of action in Barnsley this weekend, but he moved into round-three with hard-fought victories against Ronnie Baxter and Steve Hine. ‘The Diamond’ then secured his quarter-final berth by virtue of successive 6-4 triumphs against Scott Dale and Jermaine Wattimena respectively.
The Stoke star faced the exciting talent of Josh Payne in the quarters, but White battled to a 6-3 victory to set up a semi-final clash against Robbie Green, who reached the semi-finals for the second time this weekend.
Continue reading “Wonderful White Whitewashes Van Gerwen to win Players Championship 5!”
Michael van Gerwen won his eighth PDC title of 2016 after beating his Dutch compatriot Benito van de Pas 6-3 in the final of Players Championship three at the Barnsley Metrodome on Friday afternoon.
Van Gerwen, who suffered a 6-4 defeat against van de Pas in the pair’s last meeting, made a tremendous start to the final as he forged into a commanding 4-0 advantage. However, van de Pas responded superbly and reeled off three consecutive legs to reduce the arrears to 4-3.
Nevertheless, Benito was unable to complete the comeback, as the world number one regained his focus to close out a 6-3 victory and scoop the £10,000 winner’s cheque. MvG has now won eight titles already this calendar year, as he aims to eclipse last year’s tally of 17. However, van de Pas will also take great encouragement from another fine display.
Van Gerwen began his campaign with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Paul Nicholson, before overcoming a tenacious Mark Walsh 6-3 to reach the last 32. MvG then recorded consecutive 6-2 victories against Jeffrey de Graaf and Simon Whitlock respectively to storm into the quarter-finals, where he  whitewashed former world champ Mark Webster.
Continue reading “Two 9-darters in Barnsley, as MvG defeats Van de Pas to reign again!”
Stephen Bunting marked his return to form in stunning style as he defeated the Premier League quartet of Robert Thornton, Adrian Lewis, Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen to win Players Championship 2 at the Barnsley Metrodome, on Sunday afternoon.
Bunting performed tremendously throughout the day and defeated 9-dart hero and world-number one Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in the final. Van Gerwen had posted a spectacular 9-darter in his quarter-final rout of Ian White, but he was unable to overcome ‘The Bullet’ in the afternoon’s curtain-raiser.
The St Helen’s star began his campaign with a comprehensive 6-1 win against Johnny Haines, before beating his good friend and former BDO colleague Robbie Green in round-two. Bunting then defeated Robert Thornton 6-5 in the last 32, before sealing his quarter-final berth by virtue of another deciding leg victory, this time against Adrian Lewis.
The former Lakeside champion eased through to the last four with an emphatic 6-1 victory against Andrew Gilding, before beating Saturday’s victor Peter Wright, in his third last-leg shoot-out of the day. Michael van Gerwen awaited in the final, but Bunting delivered, to scoop the £10,000 winner’s cheque; sealing his second PDC ranking title in the process.
Continue reading “Bunting stuns 9-dart Van Gerwen to win Players Championship 2!”
Devon Petersen hit a brilliant 9-darter as he secured qualification for next month’s European Tour event at Friday’s night UK qualifier, held in Barnsley.
The South-African completed the perfect leg in beating former BDO World No 1 James Wilson 6-2, to qualify for next month’s European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen.
Continue reading “Devon Petersen hits a 9-Darter in Barnsley!”
Australian ace Kyle Anderson recorded the highest ever average in darting history yesterday, in the fifth Players Championship event in Barnsley. Anderson despatched Terry Jenkins 6-1 courtesy of an astonishing 134.84 average, where he used just 77 darts to secure victory!
Continue reading “Kyle Anderson hits World-Record Darting Average!”