Van Gerwen Wins Players Championship One

ProTour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN clinched the first Players Championship title of the year as he beat James Wade 6-4 in the final.

2018 ET1-2 UK Qualifiers

European Tour

JAMES WADE and Adrian Lewis were amongst six players to enjoy double success in the ET1-2 UK Qualifier.

Coral UK Open Qualifier Six

ProTour

KRZYSZTOF RATAJSKI became the first Polish winner of a PDC event as he defeated Daryl Gurney to win Coral UK Open Qualifier Six.

Coral UK Open Qualifier Five

ProTour

COREY CADBY won his first senior PDC title with a brilliant comeback in the final of Saturday's Coral UK Open Qualifier Five.

2018 European Tour 1-2 Entries

European Tour

THE entries for the year's first two PDC European Tour events have been confirmed ahead of the UK Qualifiers on Friday February 16.

Coral UK Open Qualifier Four

Ladbrokes UK Open

GARY ANDERSON secured his place in next month's Coral UK Open with victory in Qualifier Four on Friday.

Players Championship 1-2 Entries

ProTour

THE entries have been confirmed for the year's opening Players Championship events, to be held on February 17 & 18 in Barnsley.

Super Smith's Qualifier Three Success

ProTour

MICHAEL SMITH whitewashed Zoran Lerchbacher 6-0 to claim the Coral UK Open Qualifier Three title in Wigan.

100 Up For Van Gerwen

ProTour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN continued his unbeaten start to 2018 with victory in Coral UK Open Qualifier Two in Wigan.

Coral UK Open Qualifier One

ProTour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN clinched the first PDC ProTour title of 2018 in Coral UK Open Qualifier One

Keegan Brown secured his first ProTour title for seven years with a dramatic 8-7 defeat of Nathan Aspinall in Thursday's Players Championship 23 final in Barnsley.

Wednesday's winner Aspinall was chasing back-to-back victories after winning through to another decider at the Metrodome.

However, the former World Youth Champion battled back from 7-6 down to snatch victory and the £12,000 top prize.

Brown had also led 2-0 and 6-4 during the final, only to see Aspinall survive missed match darts in leg 11, finish 170 to level at six-all and then land double two to move ahead.

Brown took the tie to a deciding leg, and he was first to a finish before returning from a missed double top to secure the title on double ten.

"I'm absolutely over the moon," admitted Brown. "Nathan's a champion, he's a fighter but I thought to myself to stick with him, you get a chance with anyone.

"I think I've got luck on my side. I felt confident and it's a long time since I felt confident."

Brown had knocked out World Champion Peter Wright with a 7-4 success, and he also defeated Jose de Sousa, Darren Webster, Luc Peters, Danny Baggish and Chris Dobey on the day.

The Isle of Wight star's only previous senior PDC title had come in 2015 at a Players Championship in Coventry, but Thursday's win eases the pressure he was facing about potentially losing his Tour Card at the end of the year.

"Never give up," he admitted. "I can't tell you how many times over the last two years I wanted to pack it all away. My sponsors had faith in me, I kept plodding along and here we are.

"It's been awful, but darts is a marathon, not a sprint and you have to keep plugging away. I wanted to save my Tour Card and it's the only time I've ever probably believed in myself."

Aspinall continued the fine form which had seen him win Wednesday's opening event of the treble-header.

The former UK Open champion averaged 103 in wins over Rusty-Jake Rodriguez and Andrew Gilding, before he edged through a tight semi-final with Ted Evetts in a deciding leg.

World Youth Champion Evetts - who turned 25 on Wednesday - enjoyed his best run of the year as he overcame reigning UK Open champion Danny Noppert in one of five wins.

Wright overcame Michael Smith in a repeat of the World Championship final during his run to the last four, while Smith was joined by Alan Soutar, Shaun Wilkinson and Dobey in the quarter-finals.

The day also featured a nine-dart finish from Jack Main, although the achievement was not enough to help him win his first round tie with Rob Cross.

The week's third Players Championship event on Friday from 1200 BST will see the sport's biggest names battling it out for the £12,000 winner's prize at the Barnsley Metrodome.

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