Damon Heta secured his second ranking title of the campaign with a thrilling 8-7 victory over Stephen Bunting in Tuesday’s Players Championship 20 final.
The Australian number one defied a stirring fightback from Bunting to pocket the £15,000 top prize at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena, having led 7-4 at one stage.
Bunting followed up a brilliant 130 finish with legs of 11 and 15 darts to force a last-leg shoot-out, but Heta kept his cool in the decider to clinch his ninth Players Championship title.
“To get the win today is a massive confidence boost,” admitted Heta, who moves up to ninth place on the PDC world rankings.
“Stephen showed his class there, but I knew I had the throw in the last leg, and I’m really excited that I got that win today.
“I know I’m hitting the heights, and that’s where I need to be. It’s just a matter of taking my opportunities, and I was able to do that today.”
Heta breezed through to the semi-finals in emphatic style, conceding just ten legs in wins over Patrick Geeraets, Ted Evetts, Bradley Brooks, Madars Razma and Daryl Gurney respectively.
The former World Cup champion then powered in a sensational 109 average in his semi-final success against Gerwyn Price, before edging out Bunting in a captivating affair.
Bunting had earlier produced a magnificent comeback in his semi-final victory against Rob Cross, overturning a 6-2 deficit with a brilliant five-leg spell, which also featured a nine-darter.
The world number four – a runner-up at last weekend’s Poland Darts Masters – also recorded averages of 103, 101 and 108 to defeat Cam Crabtree, Haupai Puha and Danny Noppert earlier in the day.
Cross, meanwhile, was left to rue missing four match darts for a 7-2 victory against Bunting, despite landing a quartet of ton-topping averages in his run to the semi-finals.
This included a superb 109.81 in his quarter-final win over Northern Ireland’s World Cup champion Josh Rock, who averaged 108.89 in defeat.
Cross then succumbed in the last four alongside newly crowned Poland Darts Masters champion Price, who fell just short in his bid for back-to-back titles.
The Welshman saw off the likes of Dirk van Duijvenbode and Dom Taylor in his run to the semi-finals, before winning through a high-quality affair against his World Cup partner Clayton.
Clayton was joined in the quarter-finals by former European Champion Ross Smith and Northern Ireland’s World Cup champions Daryl Gurney and Rock.
Rock continued his rich vein of form with a series of sparkling displays in Leicester, landing a nine-darter and averaging north of 109 in his opening round demolition of Sebastian Bialecki.
Bunting and Rock’s nine-dart exploits were matched by emerging German Leon Weber, who also achieved perfection in his first round victory against Poland’s Tytus Kanik.
However, former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks produced the performance of the afternoon in the East Midlands, averaging a staggering 117.49 to dump out Callan Rydz in round one.
This week’s ProTour double-header will conclude with Players Championship 21 on Wednesday, as the race for Betfred World Matchplay qualification reaches its climax.
Ryan Joyce currently occupies the final provisional place in the 32-player field, with 2022/23 World Champion Michael Smith facing a major fight to preserve his hopes of qualification.
Smith must reach at least the semi-finals of Wednesday’s event to keep his Blackpool hopes alive, with Poland’s number one Krzysztof Ratajski and European Champion Ritchie Edhouse also amongst the chasing pack.
Players Championship 21 will get underway from 1300 BST at the Mattioli Arena, with coverage from four streaming boards broadcast live through PDCTV.
The event draw and results are listed in the Match Centre.
Click here for match stats through DartConnect.
2025 Players Championship 20
Tuesday July 8
Mattioli Arena, Leicester
Last 16
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Dom Taylor
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Damon Heta 6-3 Madars Razma
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Chris Dobey
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Danny Noppert
Ross Smith 6-4 Owen Bates
Rob Cross 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Josh Rock 6-3 Keane Barry
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Damon Heta 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Ross Smith
Rob Cross 6-5 Josh Rock
Semi-Finals
Damon Heta 7-5 Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting 7-6 Rob Cross
Final
Damon Heta 8-7 Stephen Bunting
Nine-Darters!
Josh Rock hit a nine-darter in his first round tie against Sebastian Bialecki
Leon Weber hit a nine-darter in his first round tie against Tytus Kanik.
Stephen Bunting hit a nine-darter in his semi-final tie against Rob Cross.