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 first PDC title of 2019 with an 8-2 defeat of Michael Smith in the final of Players Championship 9 in Barnsley on Saturday.

The opening day of the ProTour double-header weekend saw Wade pick up his first crown since his World Series of Darts Finals triumph of November 2018, and a first floor title since July 2015.

Wade's day began with comfortable wins over Mark Webster and Christian Kist, before a 6-0 whitewash of Peter Hudson and a 103.5 average in a 6-3 triumph over Arron Monk saw him reach the quarter-finals.

There, Wade survived five match darts in a dramatic 6-5 success against Adrian Lewis, which he followed up with another sudden-death shoot-out victory over Scott Baker 7-6, before seeing off Smith in a repeat of their World Series of Darts Finals showdown to claim the £10,000 top prize.

"This win means a lot to me, perhaps it would've meant even more a year ago but it still means a lot because I haven't been winning things," said Wade.

"I'm so, so happy to win this, people don't know how happy I am and now I'm excited and looking forward to the future.

"I've been playing well for a long time now but haven't quite been getting the rub of the green, but today I've had a bit of a touch by scraping past Adrian.

"I still think I'm underachieving for my ability but it's about turning up every morning and being hungry, which I am."

Wade got off to a perfect start in the final with a 12-dart break of throw, which he followed up with a 124 checkout on the bullseye to double his advantage.

The world number nine found tops for another break of throw to go into a commanding 4-1 lead, only for Smith to find a double at the ninth attempt in the following leg to hit straight back.

However, Wade once again made no mistake on tops to make makes it three consecutive breaks of throw at 5-2, before reeling off the final three legs to seal a comprehensive victory.

World Championship runner-up Smith averaged a disappointing 84.1 in the final, his lowest of the day by ten points, though the St Helens man did post four ton-plus averages across the day and claimed impressive victories over Dave Chisnall, Ian White and Steve West.

Saturday also saw Mark McGeeney land a nine-dart finish in his opening round win over Adam Hunt, his first perfect leg since winning a PDC Tour Card in January.

Corey Cadby's return to action ended in a 6-2 loss to Vincent van der Voort in round two, while another difficult day for Raymond van Barneveld saw the five-time World Champion go down 6-4 to Gary Eastwood in his first match since reversing his immediate retirement decision.

Premier League stars Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Mensur Suljovic all exited before the last 32 stage.

Drawboard