Van Veen aiming to build upon Development Tour success

News

Gian van Veen believes his success on the Winmau Development Tour can provide the springboard for a strong end to the season on the senior PDC circuit.

Players Championships 17-18 entries and & ET11-12 seeds confirmed

ProTour

Player entries have been confirmed for this weekend's Players Championship double-header in Hildesheim, along with the 16 seeded players for ET11-12.

Red-hot Heta wins Players Championship 16 in Leicester

ProTour

Damon Heta produced a magnificent display to clinch his second ProTour title of the year, storming to an 8-4 victory against Ryan Joyce in Tuesday’s Players Championship 16 final in Leicester.

Nine-dart Humphries defies Chisnall fightback to claim PC15 title

ProTour

Luke Humphries celebrated his second ranking title in the space of nine days after defying a superb fightback from Dave Chisnall to triumph in Monday’s Players Championship 15 final in Leicester.

2023 Players Championship 15-16 entries confirmed

ProTour

Player entries have been confirmed for next week's Players Championship double-header, as the 2023 ProTour season continues in Leicester.

Seventh heaven for Heta with PC14 success in Hildesheim

ProTour

Damon Heta warmed up for Australia’s World Cup of Darts title defence with victory in Tuesday’s Players Championship 14 final in Hildesheim.

Superb Smith fightback sinks Anderson at Players Championship 13

ProTour

Michael Smith fought back brilliantly from 5-1 down to defeat his former mentor Gary Anderson and claim his first ProTour title of 2023 in Monday's Players Championship 13 final in Hildesheim.

2023 Betfred World Matchplay qualification race ahead of PC13-14

Betfred World Matchplay

The race to qualify for the 2023 Betfred World Matchplay will continue at next week’s Players Championship double-header in Hildesheim.

2023 Players Championship 13-14 entries confirmed

ProTour

Player entries have been confirmed for next week's Players Championship double-header in Germany, as the 2023 ProTour season continues in Hildesheim.

Clayton claims first Players Championship title in over two years at PC12

ProTour

Jonny Clayton won a first Players Championship title in over two years in Leicester on Sunday, defeating Josh Rock 8-5 in the final of Players Championship 12.

Brendan Dolan continued his resurgence by winning Players Championship 29 in Barnsley on Monday, while Peter Wright set a new record for the highest ever recorded average in a live broadcast match.

Having ended his five-year wait for a PDC title at Players Championship 22 in August, Dolan made it two in just over months with a hard-fought 8-6 win over Ian White in the final.

The Northern Irishman fired in averages of 104.9 and 104.8 in victories over Mark Webster and Gerwyn Price respectively on his way to the semi-finals, before overcoming record-breaker Wright in a last-leg decider to reach the final.

"I can still do it, I played quality darts today at the right times and I think I deserved any luck I got," said Dolan, who now has six PDC titles to his name.

"The one in Hildesheim was more of a relief, whereas today I came into it with more belief that I could win having done it recently.

"When you've not been winning for five years your confidence is not so high and winning in Hildesheim has drastically changed that.

"In my head today I was determined to add money to my ranking to give me shot of qualifying for the 2020 World Matchplay and World Grand Prix.

"I've missed those two events for the last three years and it's killed me not being there, so hopefully next year I will be."

Former World Grand Prix runner-up Dolan produced checkouts of 136 and 161 to hold throw in two of the opening four legs of the final, before finding his way through to double three for the first break of the match in leg seven to take a 4-3 lead.

Another ton-plus finish, this time a 108, opened up a two-leg cushion for Dolan, an advantage which he soon doubled by taking the next two legs.

White then began a spirited comeback, and after Dolan squandered three match darts in leg 12, White found himself within a leg of Dolan at 6-7.

However, Dolan held firm and a strong leg on throw saw ended with him hitting the match-winning double at the fifth attempt.

Earlier in the day, Wright averaged 123.5 in his 6-0 quarter-final win against Krzysztof Ratajski, the highest ever recorded in a live broadcast darts match.

The previous record broadcast average was 123.4, set by Michael van Gerwen in a 7-1 defeat of Michael Smith in the 2016 Premier League.

Elsewhere, the day was also a significant one for Ron Meulenkamp who reached his sixth ProTour semi-final, but the Dutchman was unable to break his duck of never making it to a final.

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