Superb Smith fightback sinks Anderson at Players Championship 13

ProTour

Jun 12 2023

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

Jun 09 2023

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

Jun 07 2023

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

May 21 2023

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.

Cross claims first title of 2023 in Leicester

ProTour

May 20 2023

Rob Cross secured his first PDC title of 2023 with an emphatic 8-3 victory over Mike De Decker in Saturday’s Players Championship 11 final in Wigan.

2023 Players Championships 11-12 entries confirmed

ProTour

May 16 2023

Player entries have been confirmed for this weekend's Players Championship double-header in Leicester, as the 2023 ProTour season continues in the East Midlands.

Players Championships to feature two additional streaming boards

ProTour

May 15 2023

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

May 11 2023

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

Apr 17 2023

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

Apr 16 2023

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

Players Championship events are held throughout the year, with prize money won counting towards the ProTour Order of Merit

All Players Championship events will be streamed live for PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide with coverage from two boards throughout each event.

JAMES WADE won his second ProTour title in seven days with an 8-6 victory over Michael Smith in the final of Players Championship 11 at The Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday.

The opening day of the ProTour double-header weekend saw Wade make it back-to-back ProTour triumphs after ending his near-four year wait for a floor title last weekend.

Wade kicked off the day with a 110 average in a 6-0 whitewash of Eddie Dootson, before edging out Joe Murnan in a deciding leg and seeing off Vincent van der Voort to reach the last 16.

There, the European Champion averaged 102.7 in a 6-3 win over Krzysztof Ratajski, and then claimed victory over Jonny Clayton by the same scoreline.

In the semi-finals Wade came from behind to beat Ian White 7-5, before claiming a hard-fought win over Smith in a replay of last Saturday's Players Championship Nine final to clinch the £10,000 top prize.

"I'm happy to have won, but Michael didn't play the best he can," said Wade, who became the fourth player to win two Players Championship titles in 2019.

"Michael has got so much to learn but he's also got so much to offer the game.

"I played better last week but overall I think I'm playing well enough to win things this year, but I was fortunate today."

A gruelling final began with Wade hitting his favourite double ten for a break of throw in the opening leg, only for Smith to hit straight back with a 13-dart leg.

Six uncharacteristic misses at double from Wade allowed Smith the chance to eventually find double ten to break throw once again and take a 4-2 lead.

However, his advantage was quickly erased by Wade who won back-to-back legs to go level, and landed a hammer blow with an 87 finish to break throw and edge ahead at 6-5.

Once again, Smith broke straight back with an 84 checkout, but the next leg saw Wade find double four with his last dart in hand for a crucial 76 checkout.

After Wade missed two darts for the match, Smith had three darts in hand to force a last leg decider but his attempts at the outer ring went begging, allowing Wade to pin double two to notch his 14th win in the last 15 meetings between the pair.

Smith, who landed an incredible 26 180s throughout the day, came through four dramatic last leg deciders to reach his second ProTour final in a week.

Two of the World Championship runner-up's last-leg wins came against Peter Wright and Glen Durrant, before a 7-4 victory over Steve West put him through to the final.

Saturday also saw Harry Ward land a nine-dart finish in his opening round win over William O'Connor, the 18th on the PDC circuit in 2019.

Raymond van Barneveld and Corey Cadby suffered last 64 exits at the hands of Darren Webster and Durrant respectively, while Gerwyn Price and Adrian Lewis fell at the first hurdle.

Premier League stars Wright and Daryl Gurney both exited at the last 16 stage.

Drawboard