Dobey doubles his title tally for 2021 at Players Championship 28

Chris Dobey picked up his second ranking title of 2021 at Players Championship 28 in Barnsley on Tuesday with an 8-6 victory over Ryan Searle in the final.

The Bedlington ace won his maiden ProTour event in July and added a second £10,000 title in the first of three events this week at PDC Super Series 8 at the Barnsley Metrodome.

The 31-year-old recorded his first 110-plus average on the circuit during a sensational 7-4 Semi-Final defeat of Rob Cross – who averaged 112.95 to his conqueror’s 111.73.

Dobey also averaged over a ton against Maik Kuivenhoven, Darren Webster and Jose de Sousa, and also saw off World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks and Gavin Carlin en route to glory.

His form continued into the final, breaking Searle’s throw immediately and then doubling his lead, before responding to a 14-darter from the Somerset ace with legs of 12 and 14 darts to move 4-1 ahead.

Searle landed an 11-darter as he took the next two to cut the gap to one leg, only to see Dobey pull out to 6-3 with a 121 bull finish for a 12-darter.

Searle then missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish in leg ten, taking the leg in 11 darts and then firing in tops as he moved within touching distance at 6-5.

Crucially, though, he missed a dart at double ten to level in leg 12, and though Searle landed tops to stay in the game at 7-6, Dobey closed out victory on double ten.

“I’m delighted to get the win,” said Dobey. “I’ve been playing well for the last month or so, I’ve been very comfortable with my game and the practice is paying off.

“It’s hard to keep that consistency throughout the day, and I felt I’ve dealt with it well today.

“I’ve taken my practice game to the board now. My floor game is what’s been letting me down for the past few years – I’ve played well on TV the majority of the time and it’s just getting that floor game right.

“You’ve seen it with Dimi. He couldn’t do much on the floor and he’s turned his game around massively, and hopefully I can learn from Dimi and fly up the rankings.”

Dobey could still claim automatic qualification for the Grand Slam of Darts by winning another Players Championship this week, and admitted: “It would be a great achievement for me.

“I’ve only played in the Grand Slam once and it was a great tournament – I got to the quarter-finals. Just to get a taste of that will be nice, but I’m just happy with my game.

“If I play like I have today, I’ll be hard to beat.”

Searle was also in outstanding form, averaging 110.5 in his Last 32 win over Jamie Hughes and defeating both Chas Barstow and Gabriel Clemens in deciding legs.

He also overcame Dave Chisnall 7-4 in the Semi-Finals but was denied a third ranking title – and a second Players Championship success of 2021.

“I’ve got no complaints,” admitted Searle. “I’m playing decent darts and Chris is playing well as well.

“He played awesome all day and I’ll try my best over the next few days. That’s all you can do.”

Cross – the Players Championship 26 winner last month – produced some outstanding darts in his run to the Semi-Finals, including a 109 average in a 6-5 defeat over Stephen Bunting in one of three matches he won in a deciding leg.

Chisnall had been bidding to claim his first title of the season, and he swept past Michael van Gerwen 6-2 with a 102 average in the Quarter-Finals to follow up earlier defeats of Max Hopp, Ritchie Edhouse, Alan Tabern and Danny Noppert.

Gabriel Clemens landed a nine-darter in the deciding leg of his Third Round win over Ross Smith during his run to the Quarter-Finals.

Scott Waites posted the day’s other nine-darter during his First Round clash with Daryl Gurney, though it was the Northern Irishman who took victory.

Alan Soutar knocked out former World Champions Peter Wright and Raymond van Barneveld as well as Krzysztof Ratajski as he reached the Last Eight.

A day of some incredible displays also saw Callan Rydz record a personal best 117.37 average in his Second Round win over Lisa Ashton and Joe Cullen post a 112.53 average in the Second Round against Jason Heaver.

Former Premier League champion Glen Durrant withdrew during his first round tie with Davy Proosten and has opted not to compete in Wednesday and Thursday’s final Players Championship events.

WATCH PDC SUPER SERIES 8 STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)

Players Championship 28 Results

Tuesday November 2

First Round
Michael Smith 6-3 Boris Krcmar
Mike De Decker 6-5 Florian Hempel
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Steve Beaton
William Borland 6-5 Luc Peters
Ross Smith 6-3 Andy Boulton
Ricky Evans 6-1 Jon Worsley
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Steve West 6-2 Josh Payne
Ryan Searle 6-4 Gary Blades
Chas Barstow 6-1 James Wilson
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Mervyn King
Jesus Noguera 6-4 Lewis Williams
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jim McEwan
Nick Kenny 6-3 Boris Koltsov
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Ciaran Teehan
Adam Hunt 6-3 Ryan De Vreede
Joe Cullen 6-3 Kevin McDine
Jason Heaver 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Martin Schindler 6-3 Steve Lennon
Madars Razma 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Matthew Edgar
Ian White 6-4 Keegan Brown
Kai Fan Leung 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Eddie Lovely 6-5 David Evans
Alan Tabern 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Wayne Jones 6-1 Martin Thomas
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Max Hopp
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 John Brown
Callan Rydz 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Lisa Ashton 6-3 Ted Evetts
Danny Noppert 6-4 Matt Jackson
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Joe Murnan
Jose de Sousa 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Mickey Mansell 6-0 Martijn Kleermaker
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Gary Anderson
Peter Jacques 6-0 Jake Jones
Danny Baggish 6-1 James Wade
Brett Claydon 6-1 Martin Atkins
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Geert De Vos
Kevin Doets 6-2 Mark McGeeney
Scott Mitchell 6-3 Damon Heta
Darren Webster 6-2 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Chris Dobey 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Gavin Carlin 6-3 Devon Petersen
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jack Main 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Scott Waites – *Waites hits a nine-darter*
Jason Lowe 6-3 Gordon Mathers
Peter Wright 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Peter Hudson 6-4 Sean Fisher
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Berry van Peer
Alan Soutar 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Luke Humphries
William O’Connor 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Ryan Murray
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Richard Veenstra
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Lorenzo Pronk
Ryan Joyce 6-3 John Henderson
Steve Brown 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp
Rob Cross 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Keane Barry 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Aaron Beeney
Davy Proosten W-F Glen Durrant

Second Round
Mike De Decker 6-3 Michael Smith
William Borland 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Ross Smith 6-2 Ricky Evans
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Steve West
Ryan Searle 6-5 Chas Barstow
Jamie Hughes 6-1 Jesus Noguera
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Nick Kenny
Adam Hunt 6-5 Adrian Lewis
Joe Cullen 6-1 Jason Heaver
Martin Schindler 6-3 Madars Razma
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Ian White
Eddie Lovely 6-5 Kai Fan Leung
Alan Tabern 6-4 Wayne Jones
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Callan Rydz 6-1 Lisa Ashton
Danny Noppert 6-0 Ryan Meikle
Jose de Sousa 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Peter Jacques 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Brett Claydon 6-2 Danny Baggish
Kevin Doets 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Darren Webster 6-5 Scott Mitchell
Chris Dobey 6-4 Gavin Carlin
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Jack Main
Jason Lowe 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright 6-0 Peter Hudson
Alan Soutar 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 William O’Connor
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Steve Brown
Rob Cross 6-4 Keane Barry
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Davy Proosten
Losers: £500

Last 32
Mike De Decker 6-5 William Borland
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Ross Smith – *Clemens hits a nine-darter*
Ryan Searle 6-4 Jamie Hughes
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Adam Hunt
Joe Cullen 6-4 Martin Schindler
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Eddie Lovely
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Alan Tabern
Danny Noppert 6-5 Callan Rydz
Jose de Sousa 6-2 Peter Jacques
Kevin Doets 6-1 Brett Claydon
Chris Dobey 6-2 Darren Webster
Bradley Brooks 6-5 Jason Lowe
Alan Soutar 6-4 Peter Wright
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Rob Cross 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Losers: £1,000

Last 16
Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Mike De Decker
Ryan Searle 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Joe Cullen
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Danny Noppert
Jose de Sousa 6-4 Kevin Doets
Chris Dobey 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Alan Soutar 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Rob Cross 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Losers: £1,500

Quarter-Finals
Ryan Searle 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Chris Dobey 6-2 Jose de Sousa
Rob Cross 6-1 Alan Soutar
Losers: £2,250

Semi-Finals
Ryan Searle 7-4 Dave Chisnall
Chris Dobey 7-4 Rob Cross
Losers: £3,000

Final
Chris Dobey 8-6 Ryan Searle
Winner: £10,000
Runner-up: £6,000