Players Championships to feature two additional streaming boards

ProTour

Darts fans will be able to enjoy more action than ever before from Players Championship events, with two additional streamed boards broadcasting live matches from this weekend onwards.

Paul Nicholson: 2023 ProTour finalists reflect darts' global growth

Comment

Former Players Champion and current darts pundit Paul Nicholson discussed how this year's ProTour finalists so far reflect darts' global expansion over the last two decades.

PDC Order of Merit changes following Players Championships 9-10

News

Jonny Clayton has regained seventh spot on the PDC Order of Merit following last weekend's 2023 Players Championships 9-10.

Third title of 2023 for Van Duijvenbode with PC10 success

ProTour

Dirk van Duijvenbode picked up a third PDC ProTour title of 2023 with victory in Sunday's Players Championship Ten in Wigan.

Relentless Ratajski celebrates Players Championship Nine win

ProTour

Krzysztof Ratajski dispatched Chris Landman 8-1 to claim Players Championship Nine success in Wigan on Saturday, securing his first PDC ranking title for almost 18 months.

Anderson ends title drought with superb PC8 triumph

ProTour

Gary Anderson ended his three-year wait for a PDC ranking title by defeating Krzysztof Ratajski 8-5 in Monday's Players Championship 8 final in Hildesheim.

First ranking title of 2023 for Van Gerwen with PC7 success

ProTour

Michael van Gerwen picked up his first ranking title of 2023 by defeating Josh Rock 8-4 in Sunday's Players Championship 7 final in Hildesheim.

PDC Order of Merit changes following 2023 Players Championships 5-6

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Ross Smith has entered the top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time following 2023 Players Championship Events Five and Six.

Imperious Van Duijvenbode storms to Players Championship 6 success

ProTour

Dirk van Duijvenbode clinched his second ProTour title of 2023 with a superb 8-4 success against Ryan Searle in Sunday's Players Championship 6 final at the Barnsley Metrodome.

Super Smith sinks Anderson to seal second ProTour crown

ProTour

Ross Smith denied a resurgent Gary Anderson to claim Players Championship 5 glory and celebrate his second ProTour title in Barnsley on Saturday.

Dirk van Duijvenbode picked up a third PDC ProTour title of 2023 with victory in Sunday's Players Championship Ten in Wigan.

The Dutchman has already scooped two previous Players Championship wins this year, and added a further £12,000 to his rankings by seeing off Jose de Sousa in Sunday's final.

A high-quality day of darts from Van Duijvenbode also saw him see off UK Open champion Andrew Gilding and Premier League star Dimitri Van den Bergh on his way to the title.

"I wanted three [titles] and I have three," said Van Duijvenbode, who was also a runner-up on the European Tour in the European Darts Open last month.

"I think I was a bit lucky today. I shouldn't have been lucky but against Matt Campbell I should have won 6-3 or 6-2, and I didn't finish it off and at the end he was better.

"I was lucky that I won it at the end and now I won the tournament. In the final, I was so happy with the 156. Jose was about to come back.

"Sometimes I think that knowing what you're capable of, knowing you can hit two 180s in a row, you always feel confident. Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not."

The 2020 World Grand Prix runner-up, Van Duijvenbode is now closing in on a spot in the world's top ten for the first time - sitting less than £50,000 behind Van den Bergh.

"Two years ago when I made the top 32, I wanted to maintain the top 32 position because I didn't think I was good enough to make the top 16 on a regular basis," added the world number 11.

"Now the top ten is my goal for this year. The gap was very big between me and the top ten, I'm closing it but you won't get it easily because they're all good.

"I'm trying my best, trying to keep improving and not be satisfied. I need to be eager to keep on winning and keep on improving. I need to work on my confidence and my game is getting better every week."

He found his heavy-scoring form from the start, opening with a near-106 average in seeing off Frenchman Jacques Labre 6-1, before edging out both Canada's Matt Campbell and former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks in deciding legs.

Van Duijvenbode followed up a 6-2 win over Gilding by defeating fellow countryman Martijn Kleermaker by the same margin in the quarter-finals.

He was pushed all the way by Van den Bergh in the semi-finals, but was an emphatic winner in the final after taking command against De Sousa by winning the opening five legs without reply.

The Portuguese ace took three of the next four to pull back to 6-3, despite Van Duijvenbode following up an earlier 113 checkout with a 156 combination, before the Dutch ace took the next two for victory.

De Sousa's run to the final was comfortably his best performance of 2023 in a confidence-boosting day for the former Grand Slam of Darts champion.

He overcame top seed Luke Humphries and Germany's Martin Schindler in deciding legs, and averaged over 100 in a 7-2 semi-final success over Ian White.

White's wins over Karel Sedlacek, James Wade, Ronny Huybrechts, Luke Woodhouse and Damon Heta saw him reach a first semi-final since August 2021 and enjoy his best run on the circuit for almost ten months.

White was joined in the last four by Belgian star Van den Bergh, who whitewashed fellow countryman Robbie Knops in the first round and also saw off reigning World Youth Champion Josh Rock and World Championship semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens on Sunday.

Rock was one of two players, alongside Schindler, to achieve a nine-dart finish in Sunday's event, while five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld posted a 113.58 average in his first round win over Mike De Decker.

The 2023 Players Championship season resumes on May 20-21 with Events 11-12 in Leicester, with the PDC European Tour continuing next weekend with the Interwetten Austrian Darts Open in Graz.

Nine-Darters!
Martin Schindler achieved a nine-dart finish in leg six of his last 32 tie with Boris Krcmar, before winning 6-5.
Josh Rock also enjoyed a perfect leg in the fourth leg of his 6-4 last 16 win over Jonny Clayton.

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