Ross Smith ends Dolan hoodoo to claim maiden title at PC19

ProTour

Ross Smith claimed his maiden PDC ranking title at Players Championship 19 in Coventry on Wednesday.

Gutsy Dobey claims maiden ranking title at PC18

ProTour

Chris Dobey claimed the first ranking title of his career in dramatic fashion to edge out Jose de Sousa in the PC18 final.

Bunting ends five-year title wait at Players Championship 17

ProTour

Stephen Bunting ended his five-year PDC title drought at Players Championship 17.

Ten further Players Championship dates confirmed

ProTour

Dates for a further ten Players Championship events have been confirmed for the second half of 2021.

European Tour set to return with Budapest and Gibraltar events

European Tour

The European Tour is set to return with events confirmed for Budapest and Gibraltar in September.

Superb Wright denies Humphries to claim PC16 title

ProTour

Peter Wright picked up his second ranking title of 2021 with an 8-4 defeat of Luke Humphries in the Players Championship 16 final.

De Sousa goes back-to-back at Players Championship 15

ProTour

Jose de Sousa made it back-to-back PDC titles by winning Players Championship 15.

Superb De Sousa denies Van Gerwen to claim second 2021 title

ProTour

Jose de Sousa won his second Players Championship of 2021 by defeating Michael van Gerwen 8-6 in the PC14 final.

Aspinall & Barry miss remainder of PDC Super Series 4

ProTour

Nathan Aspinall and Keane Barry will miss the remainder of PDC Super Series 4.

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.

JEFFREY DE ZWAAN captured his second Players Championship title with a brilliant 8-2 win over Stephen Bunting in Wednesday's Event 14 final in Barnsley.

De Zwaan won his maiden senior title in March 2018 and went on to reach the World Matchplay semi-finals during a breakthrough year.

Having also competed as a Premier League Contender in 2019, De Zwaan has followed up his run to a ProTour final last month by going all the way to claim the £10,000 title at the Barnsley Metrodome.

The Dutchman was in superb form throughout the day, averaging over 100 in five out of six matches on his way to the final, including a 106.5 average in his third round defeat of World Championship finalist Michael Smith.

He also overcame Dave Chisnall and World Championship quarter-finalist Ryan Joyce before averaging almost 104 in his 7-3 semi-final win over former World Youth Champion Arron Monk.

Bunting had also been in fine form as he landed ton-plus averages against Jamie Lewis, Corey Cadby and Jelle Klaasen, while he also saw off Jamie Hughes and Joe Cullen.

The former Lakeside Champion then came back from 5-2 down in his semi-final against Darius Labanauskas to win 7-5.

De Zwaan raced into a 4-0 lead in the final, with his run including two 11-darters as he broke Bunting's throw to take command.

Bunting hit back in leg five on double 16, but missed his chance to battle back further as tops restored De Zwaan's cushion at 5-1 and double ten moved the 23-year-old five legs clear.

Bunting responded again in leg eight with a match-high 114 checkout, but De Zwaan landed three 134 scores on his way to a 7-2 lead before taking out 107 for a 12-darter to seal the title in style.

"I played really well today - the feeling was that I was flying, every dart I was throwing was going straight in and that's a great feeling," said De Zwaan.

"I'm happy with the win. I'm feeling good, my confidence is there and the darts are going great and I'm really happy."

De Zwaan was a winner on the PDC Unicorn Development Tour last month, and believes that his form is back to that which took him to the World Matchplay semi-finals last July.

"The Development Tour is a really good opportunity to grow in the PDC circuit," he added.

"In the first tournament I played seven games with a 100 average, and it's also a great opportunity to grow and get confidence as well.

"Last year I reached the semi-final of the World Matchplay and the pressure grows on you. Now I've learned how that feels and I'm dealing with the pressure and playing well again."

Bunting had won through to his first ProTour final for over 18 months with his form on the day, surpassing a quarter-final appearance on the European Tour in March with Wednesday's run.

Monk enjoyed his best finish in a Players Championship event since October 2012 as he followed up a quarter-final appearance in Event Ten last month with another strong showing.

Labanauskas, meanwhile, reached the semi-finals on the ProTour for the first time since securing his Tour Card in January.

The Lithuanian defeated Mark Webster, Jermaine Wattimena, Toni Alcinas, Brendan Dolan and Harry Ward on the day before falling victim to Bunting's fightback in the last four.

The event featured a number of outstanding performances, including a 114.2 average from Peter Wright as he whitewashed Gary Anderson in the last 32.

Krzysztof Ratajski averaged 112.3 in his first round win over Raymond van Barneveld, and went on to make the quarter-finals, while Dave Chisnall and Gerwyn Price also posted 106+ averages.

The next Players Championship double-header will be held on May 18-19 at the Barnsley Metrodome, with two further £75,000 tournaments taking place. Coverage will be streamed from two boards simultaneously at video.pdc.tv

See results and match stats through Dart Connect

Players Championship 14
Wednesday May 1
Last 16

Stephen Bunting 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Joe Cullen 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Darius Labanauskas 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Harry Ward 6-5 Peter Wright
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Arron Monk 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Glen Durrant

Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Joe Cullen
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Harry Ward
Arron Monk 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Ryan Joyce

Semi-Finals
Stephen Bunting 7-5 Darius Labanauskas
Jeffrey de Zwaan 7-3 Arron Monk

Final
Jeffrey de Zwaan 8-2 Stephen Bunting