Damon Heta storms to Players Championship 16 title
Damon Heta secured his second ProTour title of the year at Players Championship 16 in Leicester, defeating Ryan Joyce 8-4 in the final on Tuesday.
Having claimed glory at Players Championship 14 in Hildesheim last month, Heta made it two titles from his last three ProTour appearances to continue his blistering spell of form.
The Australian number one preserved his best performance of the day for the final, averaging 103 and landing six maximums to triumph at the Morningside Arena.
Heta’s eighth PDC title marks the perfect preparation ahead of the World Matchplay, which takes place at Blackpool’s iconic Winter Gardens from July 15-23.
The 35-year-old will take on World Youth Champion Josh Rock in an intriguing first round clash in Blackpool, and Heta is relishing his latest clash against the emerging Northern Irishman.
“I’ve been to the World Matchplay a couple of times before and it hasn’t worked out for me so far, but with this new approach, I’m feeling confident,” said Heta.
“It’s going to be tough against Josh [Rock] who is a great player, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and whatever happens, I will still come out smiling.
“I’m absolutely stoked with where my game is at right now, but I’m not putting that pressure on myself where everything is a must.
“I’m just going to play my game, have a bit of fun and hopefully it goes my way.
“I consider myself a potential champion in every game that I play. I’ve got the game, I’ve beaten everyone, so there’s no reason why I can’t lift the title.”
Heta overcame Owen Roelofs 6-3 in his opening encounter, before winning through deciding-leg ties against Owen Bates and Ricardo Pietreczko.
He then eased past Kevin Doets 6-2 in the Last 16, while convincing wins over James Wade and Joe Cullen saw him secure a spot in the final.
It was Joyce who drew first blood in the final with a 12-darter, but Heta soon found his range, converting finishes of 104 and 102 to level up at three apiece.
The former World Cup winner then fired in a 12-dart break to hit the front in leg seven, sparking a run of three consecutive legs as he opened up a 6-3 advantage.
Joyce stopped the rot with a 78 finish on tops to preserve his hopes, but only for Heta to seal the deal in style, conjuring up back-to-back 11-darters to secure his fifth Players Championship crown.
Joyce defeated four seeded stars to scoop the £8,000 runner-up prize, knocking out former Lakeside champions Richie Burnett and Steve Beaton to kick off his campaign.
The 37-year-old averaged 102 to topple Beaton, and also claimed the scalps of Martin Schindler, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jose de Sousa to reach his first PDC ranking final since July 2020.
Elsewhere, Cullen continued his fine form with a run to the Semi-Finals, defeating his scheduled World Matchplay opponent Mike De Decker and averaging 107 to demolish Daryl Gurney in the Last 16.
De Sousa also impressed in Leicester, coming through three last-leg shoot-outs and averaging 110 to stun Jonny Clayton in a remarkable Quarter-Final.
Clayton was featuring in his second Quarter-Final in as many days, while Van Duijvenbode registered four consecutive ton-plus averages in his run to the Last Eight.
UK Open champion Andrew Gilding defied a superb nine-dart finish from a resurgent Christian Kist to make the Quarter-Finals – where he was also joined by ten-time TV title winner James Wade.
Monday’s winner Luke Humphries suffered a shock opening round exit to Czech star Karel Sedlacek, while Rock, Chris Dobey and Gary Anderson were among the other notable First Round casualties.
Players Championship 16 Results
Tuesday July 11
First Round
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Lewis Williams
Jim Williams 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Callum Goffin
Christian Kist 6-3 Alan Soutar
Andrew Gilding 6-0 Luc Peters
Chris Landman 6-2 Conan Whitehead
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Darius Labanauskas
Steve Lennon 6-3 Jacques Labre
Mike De Decker 6-1 Robbie Knops
Graham Hall 6-3 Keane Barry
Joe Cullen 6-1 Adam Gawlas
Robert Owen 6-3 James Wilson
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Josh Payne
George Killington 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Ricky Evans 6-0 Daniel Klose
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Damian Mol
John O’Shea 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Damon Heta 6-3 Owen Roelofs
Owen Bates 6-1 Devon Petersen
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Richard Veenstra
Brian Raman 6-5 Danny van Trijp
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Ross Smith
Kevin Doets 6-3 Krzysztof Kciuk
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Tony Martinez
Rob Cross 6-1 Berry van Peer
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Jamie Clark
James Wade 6-1 Radek Szaganski
Jose Justicia 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Ryan Searle 6-3 Wayne Jones
John Henderson 6-1 Darren Webster
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Jurjen van der Velde
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Thibault Tricole
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Luke Humphries
Scott Mitchell 6-1 Adam Smith-Neale
Jules van Dongen 6-3 Gary Anderson
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Florian Hempel
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Callan Rydz
Martijn Kleermaker 6-5 Ross Montgomery
Brendan Dolan 6-2 James Hurrell
Ted Evetts 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Ian White
Graham Usher 6-4 Joe Murnan
Arron Monk 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Danny Noppert 6-4 Keegan Brown
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Nick Kenny
William O’Connor 6-5 Madars Razma
Dylan Slevin 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Andy Boulton
Scott Williams 6-5 Jimmy Hendriks
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Geert Nentjes
Connor Scutt 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Kevin Burness 6-4 Scott Waites
Steve Beaton 6-0 Shaun Wilkinson
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Richie Burnett
Stephen Burton 6-5 Josh Rock
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Chris Dobey
Danny Lauby 6-3 Matt Campbell
Martin Schindler 6-4 Adam Warner
Lee Evans 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Second Round
Jim Williams 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
Christian Kist 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Chris Landman
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Steve Lennon
Mike De Decker 6-3 Graham Hall
Joe Cullen 6-2 Robert Owen
Daryl Gurney 6-3 George Killington
Ricky Evans 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 John O’Shea
Damon Heta 6-5 Owen Bates
Brian Raman 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Kevin Doets 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Rob Cross
James Wade 6-5 Jose Justicia
John Henderson 6-4 Ryan Searle
Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Jules van Dongen 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Jose De Sousa 6-1 Martijn Kleermaker
Ted Evetts 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Graham Usher
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-2 Arron Monk
Danny Noppert 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
William O’Connor 6-1 Dylan Slevin
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Scott Williams
Connor Scutt 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Kevin Burness 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Steve Beaton
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-2 Stephen Burton
Danny Lauby 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Martin Schindler 6-2 Lee Evans
Losers: £750
Last 32
Christian Kist 6-3 Jim Williams
Andrew Gilding 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Joe Cullen 6-3 Mike De Decker
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Ricky Evans
Damon Heta 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Kevin Doets 6-2 Brian Raman
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Cameron Menzies
James Wade 6-2 John Henderson
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Jules van Dongen
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Ted Evetts
Danny Noppert 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 William O’Connor
Connor Scutt 6-3 Kevin Burness
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Martin Schindler 6-3 Danny Lauby
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Christian Kist
Joe Cullen 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Damon Heta 6-2 Kevin Doets
James Wade 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Danny Noppert
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Connor Scutt
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Martin Schindler
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Joe Cullen 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Damon Heta 6-3 James Wade
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Damon Heta 7-2 Joe Cullen
Ryan Joyce 7-4 Jose De Sousa
Losers: £4,000
Final
Damon Heta 8-4 Ryan Joyce
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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