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

News

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.

Rob Cross continued his golden run of form to win Thursday's Players Championship 26 in Barnsley, defeating Ryan Searle 8-6 in a tight final.

Last Sunday's Cazoo European Championship winner claimed the £10,000 title at the Barnsley Metrodome to win his first Players Championship since June 2018 on another superb day of darts.

The 2018 World Champion averaged over 100 in five of his seven matches, picking up wins over Scottish World Cup-winning pair Peter Wright and John Henderson as well as defeating David Evans, Andy Hamilton and Vincent van der Voort.

He then defied a nine-darter from Madars Razma to win their semi-final 7-4, pulling clear from four-all to move into the title decider.

Cross dominated the final, taking out 124 on the bull to break in the opening leg, leading 2-0, 3-1 and 6-2 with some fine darts - including a pressure 96 in leg six to deny Searle a chance to level.

Searle took three legs in a row to reduce the gap to one leg at 6-5, but Cross produced a timely 14-darter to earn breathing space and responded to a 105 checkout from his opponent by finishing 76 to claim the title.

"It's great," said Cross. "It's so surprising what a bit of confidence does - I've played well this week.

"I feel like I'm never going to miss when I put that first dart in there. That's a kick-start, and the confidence on top made me a winner today.

"It's taken a lot of work. For 18-20 months I've been terrible.

"I seem to find that, when things all go wrong, you never enjoy it, and then all of a sudden you start to get a little bit of improvement and enjoy it a little bit more.

"I want to wear my heart on my sleeve, I want to enjoy it AND win. We're going to ride this crest of a wave."

Birthday boy Searle, who turned 34 on Thursday, averaged over 103 against Robert Thornton and Mike De Decker as well as seeing off Daryl Gurney, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall in his run to a third ProTour final of 2021.

However, he was denied a second title of the year, and a third ProTour win, as Cross emerged victorious in a battle between two players who progressed from the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour in 2016.

"Ryan's brilliant, I've got a lot of admiration for him and for the last three months he's played great," added Cross. "He's reaping the benefits and so he should."

Latvia's Madars Razma enjoyed his best run in a ProTour event this year, defeating top seed Joe Cullen and Nordic rival Darius Labanauskas on his way to the semi-finals, where he achieved his nine-darter in defeat to Cross.

Aspinall reached his third semi-final inside a month before losing out to Searle, having defeated top 20 stars Gary Anderson, Krzysztof Ratajski, Jose de Sousa and Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Van der Voort and Van Duijvenbode were joined in the quarter-finals by Michael Smith and Luke Woodhouse, while world number two Peter Wright lost out in the last 16.

Michael van Gerwen was defeated in the last 32 by Daryl Gurney as the three-time World Champion lost despite a 107 average for the second time in three days.

Friday sees PDC Super Series 7 conclude with Players Championship 27, as 128 players compete in the fourth ProTour event of the week.

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