Gerwyn Price powers to fourth Players Championship title of 2023
Gerwyn Price powered his way to the Players Championship 29 title in Barnsley on Wednesday with an 8-3 win over Dave Chisnall in the final.
Price produced a series of dominant displays to scoop the £12,000 top prize at the Metrodome, overcoming top seed Chisnall to make it four Players Championship titles for the season.
The Welshman came into the event on the back of a Quarter-Final defeat to Danny Noppert at the European Championship on Sunday, where he remarkably squandered a 7-0 lead.
However, he returned to winning ways at the first opportunity, clinching his seventh PDC title of 2023 to move top of the Players Championship Order of Merit with just one event remaining on Thursday.
Chisnall punished a sluggish start from Price to establish an early lead in the final, only to miss six darts at doubles for a 3-0 advantage, which ultimately proved fatal.
Price embarked on a mid-match burst to turn the game on its head, following up a sensational 170 checkout with back-to-back 11-darters to move 5-3 in front.
Chisnall was unable to respond and Price continued the procession to wrap up victory, firing in back-to-back 15-darters before converting a clinical 105 checkout on tops to cap off a fine performance.
“I gave myself a kick up the backside and it worked,” admitted Price.
“I was going to take these two days off, but I wanted to punish myself. I was so poor towards the end of the game against Danny [on Sunday].
“I couldn’t hit anything early on, so I was trying to throw a little bit quicker and get my arm in, and thankfully I found it towards the end of that game.
“It’s not easy when you’re playing in all the big tournaments and you’re trying to pick and choose your events. When you do turn up you’re under pressure, but thankfully I did the business today.”
Price opened his campaign with a hard-fought victory over in-form Jules van Dongen, before averaging 104 to whitewash his veteran compatriot Richie Burnett in Round Two.
The Welshman then fended off a late onslaught from Masters champion Chris Dobey to triumph in a last-leg shoot-out, which he backed up with a battling win over German star Ricardo Pietreczko.
Price averaged 102 in a 6-1 Quarter-Final demolition of Gian van Veen, and he booked his spot in the final after overcoming a tenacious Damon Heta 7-4.
Chisnall responded to his disappointing First Round exit at the European Championship in impressive fashion as he reached a fourth ProTour final of the year.
The St Helens star averaged 106, 100, 99 and 102 in wins over Krzysztof Kciuk, Simon Whitlock, Callan Rydz and Jamie Hughes respectively, dropping just seven legs across those four matches.
Chisnall then defied a below-par display to account for Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 in the Last Eight, before winning through a gruelling semi-final clash against Rob Cross 7-5.
Cross conceded just nine legs in reaching the Semi-Finals, where he was joined by third seed Heta – who posted a phenomenal 116.12 average in his Last 16 victory over European Championship runner-up James Wade.
Ryan Searle also posted an astronomical average en route to reaching the Quarter-Finals, registering winning legs of 11, 12, 11, 12, 13 and 13 darts to demolish Martin Lukeman with a 116.36 average in Round One.
Searle was joined in the Last Eight by Players Championship 27 winner Radek Szaganski – who claimed the scalp of two-time World Champion Gary Anderson in the opening round.
Van Veen, a semi-finalist at the European Championship, also featured in the Quarter-Finals alongside his Dutch compatriot Kuivenhoven to maintain his fine form.
Meanwhile, Michael van Gerwen was dumped out in Round One by Lee Evans, with Anderson, Jonny Clayton, Joe Cullen and Dimitri Van den Bergh also exiting at the same stage.
Newly crowned European Champion Peter Wright was also beaten in his opener by Jamie Hughes, leaving the Scot £3,500 adrift of Players Championship Finals qualification ahead of Players Championship 30.
Mensur Suljovic, Vincent van der Voort, Mervyn King and Alan Soutar are among the players outside of the provisional qualification places for the World Championship going into Thursday’s finale.
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Players Championship 29 Results
Wednesday November 1
First Round
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Owen Roelofs
Callan Rydz 6-5 Brian Raman
Tony Martinez 6-4 Devon Petersen
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 Joe Cullen
Connor Scutt 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Peter Wright
Alan Soutar 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Danny Noppert 6-4 Scott Williams
Ian White 6-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Mike De Decker 6-3 Keane Barry
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-2 Steve Lennon
Michael Smith 6-4 Ross Montgomery
Josh Payne 6-3 Mervyn King
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Arron Monk
Nathan Rafferty 6-4 Graham Usher
Josh Rock 6-1 Jacques Labre
Darius Labanauskas 6-0 Vladimir Andersen
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 George Killington
Ricky Evans 6-3 Nick Kenny
Ryan Searle 6-2 Martin Lukeman
William O’Connor 6-0 Ted Evetts
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker
Scott Waites 6-2 Bradley Brooks
Rob Cross 6-1 Jeff Smith
Owen Bates 6-3 Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Andy Boulton
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Nick Fullwell
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Darren Webster
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Stephen Burton 6-5 Graham Hall
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Jules van Dongen
Richie Burnett 6-1 Berry van Peer
Chris Dobey 6-1 Danny Jansen
Boris Krcmar 6-0 Jimmy Hendriks
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Niels Zonneveld
Damian Mol 6-4 Danny van Trijp
Martin Schindler 6-3 Christian Kist
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Madars Razma 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Keegan Brown 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Gian van Veen 6-5 Jim Williams
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Ross Smith 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-1 Florian Hempel
Robert Owen 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Kevin Burness 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Damon Heta 6-4 Matt Campbell
Dylan Slevin 6-4 Adam Warner
Robbie Knops 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-1 William Borland
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Jamie Clark
Daniel Klose 6-4 Joe Murnan
James Wade 6-3 Shaun Wilkinson
Luc Peters 6-5 James Hurrell
Lee Evans 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 John O’Shea
Steve Beaton 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Radek Szaganski 6-2 Gary Anderson
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Kevin Doets
Ryan Joyce 6-4 James Wilson
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Callum Goffin
Second Round
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Simon Whitlock
Callan Rydz 6-1 Tony Martinez
Connor Scutt 6-2 Jurjen van der Velde
Jamie Hughes 6-2 Alan Soutar
Ian White 6-3 Danny Noppert
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Mike De Decker
Josh Payne 6-3 Michael Smith
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Nathan Rafferty
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Josh Rock
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Ricky Evans
Ryan Searle 6-2 William O’Connor
Scott Waites 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Rob Cross 6-3 Owen Bates
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stephen Burton 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Richie Burnett
Chris Dobey 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Damian Mol
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Martin Schindler
Madars Razma 6-3 Keegan Brown
Gian van Veen 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ross Smith 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Robert Owen 6-4 Kevin Burness
Damon Heta 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-2 Robbie Knops
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Daniel Klose
James Wade 6-3 Luc Peters
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Lee Evans
Steve Beaton 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Radek Szaganski 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Losers: £750
Last 32
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Callan Rydz
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Connor Scutt
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Ian White
Josh Payne 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
Ryan Searle 6-3 Scott Waites
Rob Cross 6-2 Wesley Plaisier
Stephen Burton 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Chris Dobey
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Gian van Veen 6-5 Madars Razma
Ross Smith 6-5 Robert Owen
Damon Heta 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
James Wade 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Ritchie Edhouse 6-1 Steve Beaton
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Jamie Hughes
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-0 Josh Payne
Ryan Searle 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Rob Cross 6-1 Stephen Burton
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Gian van Veen 6-5 Ross Smith
Damon Heta 6-3 James Wade
Radek Szaganski 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Rob Cross 6-2 Ryan Searle
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Gian van Veen
Damon Heta 6-2 Radek Szaganski
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Dave Chisnall 7-5 Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price 7-4 Damon Heta
Losers: £4,000
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-3 Dave Chisnall
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
