Damon Heta warmed up for Australia’s World Cup of Darts title defence with victory in Tuesday’s Players Championship 14 final in Hildesheim.
Heta, who will aim to defend the World Cup crown alongside Simon Whitlock in Frankfurt, dispatched Luke Woodhouse 8-2 to claim his seventh PDC title at Halle 39 on Tuesday.
The Australian number one wasn’t at his blistering best in the sweltering Hildesheim heat, but he brushed aside Woodhouse in the afternoon’s showpiece to secure his first ranking title of 2023.
Heta came into Tuesday’s event fresh from making back-to-back Players Championship semi-finals, but he overcame that hurdle to return to the winner’s circle in emphatic style.
After defying a 101 average from Owen Roelofs to win a last-leg shoot-out, Heta eased past Denmark’s Vladimir Andersen and averaged 106 to whitewash Martijn Kleermaker in round three.
The 35-year-old edged out nine-dart star Bradley Brooks and then produced his third ton-topping average of the afternoon to whitewash Mickey Mansell in the last eight, before battling past Christian Kist in the semi-finals.
Heta punished a sluggish start from Woodhouse to race into a 3-0 lead in Tuesday’s decider, extending his cushion to 5-1 with consecutive legs of 14 and 16 darts.
Woodhouse followed up his second 180 with a two-dart 76 finish to double his tally in leg seven, only for the Australian to win the next three legs to wrap up a convincing victory.
“I feel like I just played the player all day,” reflected Heta, who topped last year’s Players Championship Order of Merit.
“I’ve made a lot of semi-finals this year, whether it’s on the ProTour or European Tour, and now I’ve finally got the win this year.
“To get over that line today is a weight off my shoulders. It might not have been spectacular, but the win is the most important thing at the end of the day.”
Heta will be hoping to claim further silverware in Germany at this week’s World Cup, and he’s in confident mood as he and Whitlock bid to repeat their history-making 2022 success.
“It probably gives Simon a bit of confidence that he can count on me,” added Heta, who rises to a career-high of 13th in the world after scooping the £12,000 top prize on Tuesday.
“I know that he’s been playing well this year too, and I can always count on him because he always steps up for the World Cup.
“I’m absolutely looking forward to it. Hopefully we can back it up, but we’ll have to do it the hard way!”
Woodhouse was unable to cap off his landmark afternoon with victory against Heta, but the 34-year-old came of age to progress to a maiden PDC ranking final in Germany.
The Worcestershire thrower opened his challenge with battling wins over Graham Hall, Rowby-John Rodriguez and Dom Taylor, before claiming the seeded scalps of Jose de Sousa and Danny Noppert.
Woodhouse averaged 101 in his win over former Grand Slam champion De Sousa, and a dominant 7-2 success against Mensur Suljovic in the semi-finals saw him pocket the £8,000 runner-up prize.
Austria’s World Cup talisman Suljovic was featuring in his first semi-final of 2023, seeing off fourth seed Rob Cross, European Champion Ross Smith and UK Open champion Andrew Gilding in the process.
Meanwhile, Challenge Tour star Kist – featuring in his first Pro Tour semi-final for seven years – overcame Mervyn King, Martin Schindler and Steve Beaton in his run to the last four.
Gilding produced his best performance of the day in his whitewash win over Brendan Dolan before succumbing in the last eight, departing at the same stage as 2022 UK Open winner Noppert.
Elsewhere, Northern Ireland’s Mickey Mansell stunned Gerwyn Price during his impressive run to the quarter-finals, where he was joined by Belgian veteran Mario Vandenbogaerde.
Price was one of several high-profile first round casualties in Hildesheim, with world number two Peter Wright, top seed Dave Chisnall and Dimitri Van den Bergh all losing their opening games.
Monday’s winner Michael Smith was beaten by Rusty-Jake Rodriguez in round two, exiting alongside Cross, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Josh Rock.
Rock was one of two players to land nine-darters on an unpredictable day of action at Halle 39, producing his second perfect leg of 2023 in his first round win over Jurjen van der Velde.
Former World Youth Champion Brooks also achieved perfection on Tuesday, firing in his nine-darter during his superb comeback victory against Daryl Gurney.
Rowby-John Rodriguez
6
|
4
Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Woodhouse
6
|
4
Graham Hall
Scott Williams
6
|
5
Dave Chisnall
Dom Taylor
6
|
3
Dragutin Horvat
Ricky Evans
6
|
2
Chris Dobey
Lewis Williams
6
|
5
Cam Crabtree
Jose De Sousa
6
|
1
Christian Perez
Devon Petersen
6
|
3
Conan Whitehead
Richie Burnett
6
|
3
Kim Huybrechts
Scott Waites
6
|
4
Tony Martinez
Michael Smith
6
|
1
Jimmy Hendriks
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
6
|
1
Callum Goffin
James Wade
6
|
3
Gian van Veen
Geert Nentjes
6
|
2
Kevin Burness
Danny Noppert
6
|
4
Nathan Rafferty
Radek Szaganski
6
|
5
Robert Owen
Andy Boulton
6
|
2
Ian White
Scott Mitchell
6
|
4
Connor Scutt
Rob Cross
6
|
5
Jelle Klaasen
Mensur Suljovic
6
|
2
Chris Landman
Gary Anderson
6
|
3
Lukas Wenig
Ritchie Edhouse
6
|
3
Brian Raman
Ross Smith
6
|
2
Jamie Hughes
Jose Justicia
6
|
2
Ronny Huybrechts
Simon Whitlock
6
|
1
Roy van de Griendt
Krzysztof Kciuk
6
|
3
Keegan Brown
Josh Rock
6
|
5
Jurjen van der Velde
Richard Veenstra
6
|
1
Vincent van der Voort
Brendan Dolan
6
|
4
Steve Lennon
Matt Campbell
6
|
5
Daniel Klose
Andrew Gilding
6
|
1
Ross Montgomery
Ryan Meikle
6
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5
George Killington
Ricardo Pietreczko
6
|
3
Owen Bates
Jeffrey De Zwaan
6
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4
Arron Monk
Dirk van Duijvenbode
6
|
1
Luc Peters
Jeffrey Sparidaans
6
|
3
Keane Barry
Stephen Bunting
6
|
4
Callan Rydz
Joe Murnan
6
|
4
Kevin Doets
Mario Vandenbogaerde
6
|
4
Gabriel Clemens
Alan Soutar
6
|
3
Adam Warner
Raymond van Barneveld
6
|
4
Robert Grundy
Robbie Knops
6
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4
Karel Sedlacek
Jarred Cole
6
|
3
Peter Wright
Niels Zonneveld
6
|
3
Adam Gawlas
Steve Beaton
6
|
2
Stefan Bellmont
Adam Smith-Neale
6
|
3
Josh Payne
Martin Schindler
6
|
4
Cameron Menzies
Christian Kist
6
|
2
Mervyn King
William O'Connor
6
|
4
Danny Lauby
Martijn Kleermaker
6
|
1
Danny van Trijp
Damon Heta
6
|
5
Owen Roelofs
Vladimir Andersen
6
|
4
John O'Shea
Daryl Gurney
6
|
1
Maik Kuivenhoven
Bradley Brooks
6
|
4
Dylan Slevin
Nick Kenny
6
|
5
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Martin Lukeman
6
|
4
Jeff Smith
Ted Evetts
6
|
5
Madars Razma
Florian Hempel
6
|
5
Damian Mol
Mickey Mansell
6
|
4
Gerwyn Price
Shaun Wilkinson
6
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5
Lee Evans
Mike De Decker
6
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3
Boris Krcmar
Darius Labanauskas
6
|
4
Jules van Dongen
Krzysztof Ratajski
6
|
3
Thibault Tricole
Stephen Burton
6
|
4
Danny Jansen
Luke Woodhouse
6
|
2
Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dom Taylor
6
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1
Scott Williams
Ricky Evans
6
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5
Lewis Williams
Jose De Sousa
6
|
2
Devon Petersen
Scott Waites
6
|
5
Richie Burnett
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
6
|
4
Michael Smith
James Wade
6
|
1
Geert Nentjes
Danny Noppert
6
|
5
Radek Szaganski
Andy Boulton
6
|
4
Scott Mitchell
Mensur Suljovic
6
|
1
Rob Cross
Gary Anderson
6
|
3
Ritchie Edhouse
Ross Smith
6
|
2
Jose Justicia
Simon Whitlock
6
|
3
Krzysztof Kciuk
Richard Veenstra
6
|
5
Josh Rock
Brendan Dolan
6
|
5
Matt Campbell
Andrew Gilding
6
|
5
Ryan Meikle
Jeffrey De Zwaan
6
|
2
Ricardo Pietreczko
Jeffrey Sparidaans
6
|
4
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Joe Murnan
6
|
2
Stephen Bunting
Mario Vandenbogaerde
6
|
3
Alan Soutar
Raymond van Barneveld
6
|
3
Robbie Knops
Niels Zonneveld
6
|
3
Jarred Cole
Steve Beaton
6
|
4
Adam Smith-Neale
Christian Kist
6
|
1
Martin Schindler
Martijn Kleermaker
6
|
5
William O'Connor
Damon Heta
6
|
2
Vladimir Andersen
Bradley Brooks
6
|
5
Daryl Gurney
Martin Lukeman
6
|
4
Nick Kenny
Florian Hempel
6
|
2
Ted Evetts
Mickey Mansell
6
|
3
Shaun Wilkinson
Mike De Decker
6
|
4
Darius Labanauskas
Stephen Burton
6
|
1
Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Woodhouse
6
|
2
Dom Taylor
Jose De Sousa
6
|
5
Ricky Evans
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
6
|
2
Scott Waites
Danny Noppert
6
|
2
James Wade
Mensur Suljovic
6
|
5
Andy Boulton
Ross Smith
6
|
5
Gary Anderson
Richard Veenstra
6
|
5
Simon Whitlock
Andrew Gilding
6
|
0
Brendan Dolan
Jeffrey Sparidaans
6
|
4
Jeffrey De Zwaan
Mario Vandenbogaerde
6
|
5
Joe Murnan
Niels Zonneveld
6
|
5
Raymond van Barneveld
Christian Kist
6
|
4
Steve Beaton
Damon Heta
6
|
0
Martijn Kleermaker
Bradley Brooks
6
|
4
Martin Lukeman
Mickey Mansell
6
|
3
Florian Hempel
Stephen Burton
6
|
5
Mike De Decker
Luke Woodhouse
6
|
3
Jose De Sousa
Danny Noppert
6
|
3
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Mensur Suljovic
6
|
4
Ross Smith
Andrew Gilding
6
|
2
Richard Veenstra
Mario Vandenbogaerde
6
|
1
Jeffrey Sparidaans
Christian Kist
6
|
3
Niels Zonneveld
Damon Heta
6
|
4
Bradley Brooks
Mickey Mansell
6
|
3
Stephen Burton
Luke Woodhouse
6
|
4
Danny Noppert
Mensur Suljovic
6
|
4
Andrew Gilding
Christian Kist
6
|
2
Mario Vandenbogaerde
Damon Heta
6
|
0
Mickey Mansell
Luke Woodhouse
7
|
2
Mensur Suljovic
Damon Heta
7
|
4
Christian Kist
Damon Heta
8
|
2
Luke Woodhouse