Chris Dobey scoops second ProTour title of 2025 at Players Championship 17
Chris Dobey clinched his second ProTour title of the season at Players Championship 17 in Leicester on Tuesday.
The Premier League star followed up February’s Players Championship Three triumph in Rosmalen by scooping a second £15,000 top prize at the Matioli Arena courtesy of a narrow 8-7 victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode in the final.
With the likes of Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price absent, an opportunity presented itself – and it was Dobey who was able to capitalise.
The Bedlington ace began the day with comfortable victories over Adam Mould, Adam Warner and Jack Tweddell, before averaging 103.2 to defeat newly-crowned World Cup of Darts winner Josh Rock 6-3 in the Last 16.
Dobey then overcame James Wade 6-3 in the quarter-finals with a 99 average, before seeing off Gian van Veen 7-5 in the semi-finals.
The final began with Dobey and Van Duijvenbode trading blows, with nothing to separate the pair after six legs, however, in the seventh leg Dobey found a crucial break of throw.
The 35-year-old went on to work his way into a prime position, stretching his lead to 7-3, though missed match darts cost Dobey on several occasions, with Van Duijvenbode reeling off four straight legs to force a decider.
Despite relinquishing control of the contest, Dobey was able to recover and pinned double eight with his last dart in hand to seal glory.
“His scoring power is unbelievable, probably up there with one of the best scorers in the world. I had to dig in,” said Dobey.
“Every tournament is a tough task, there’s so many good players now – I’m delighted to pick up another title.
“This is my second win of the year, but just to win one tournament is an achievement.”
A resurgent Van Duijvenbode powered into his first Players Championship final of the season courtesy of wins over Jitse van der Wal, Keane Barry, Danny Noppert, William O’Connor, Michael Smith and Damon Heta.
Michael Smith made up ground in his bid for World Matchplay qualification, with the former World Champion reaching the quarter-finals.
Gary Anderson, Dave Chisnall, Ryan Searle, Jonny Clayton and Martin Schindler were among the notable first round casualties.
Players Championship 17 Results
Tuesday June 17
First Round
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Tom Bissell 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
William O’Connor 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Niko Springer 6-0 Adam Paxton
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Jitse Van der Wal
Keane Barry 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Danny Noppert 6-3 Stephen Burton
Stefaan Henderyck 6-4 Ricky Evans
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Ted Evetts
Danny Lauby 6-1 Kai Gotthardt
Michael Smith 6-5 Dennie Olde Kalter
Ryan Meikle 6-1 Connor Scutt
Max Hopp 6-2 Ryan Searle
Jose De Sousa 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Graham Hall 6-4 Joe Cullen
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Robert Grundy
Matt Campbell 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Rob Owen 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Andy Boulton 6-3 Marvin van Velzen
Justin Hood 6-2 Gary Anderson
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Berry van Peer
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Cam Crabtree
Dominik Gruellich 6-2 Scott Williams
Damon Heta 6-4 Cor Dekker
Steve Lennon 6-0 Benjamin Reus
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Florian Hempel 6-1 Christian Kist
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Nathan Rafferty 6-5 Thomas Lovely
Dom Taylor 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Kevin Doets 6-3 Nick Kenny
Oskar Lukasiak 6-5 Martin Schindler
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-3 Pero Ljubic
Radek Szaganski 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Carl Sneyd 6-3 Ian White
Peter Wright 6-4 Scott Campbell
Dylan Slevin 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
James Wade 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Adam Hunt 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
Josh Rock 6-3 Owen Bates
Alan Soutar 6-3 Haupai Puha
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Jim Williams
Chris Dobey 6-3 Adam Mould
Adam Warner 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Jack Tweddell 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Martijn Dragt 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Ross Smith 6-2 Andy Baetens
George Killington 6-4 Danny van Trijp
William Borland 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Thibault Tricole 6-1 Brett Claydon
Mike De Decker 6-4 James Hurrell
Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Sebastian Bialecki
Darren Beveridge 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Jim Long 6-5 Joshua Richardson
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Madars Razma 6-5 Leon Weber
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Callan Rydz
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-0 Greg Ritchie
Gian van Veen 6-5 Mervyn King
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-5 Jeffrey De Graaf
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Wesley Plaisier
Chris Landman 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Second Round
Tom Bissell 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
William O’Connor 6-5 Niko Springer
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Keane Barry
Danny Noppert 6-4 Stefaan Henderyck
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Danny Lauby
Michael Smith 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Max Hopp 6-1 Jose De Sousa
Darius Labanauskas 6-5 Graham Hall
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Matt Campbell
Rob Owen 6-3 Andy Boulton
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Justin Hood
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Dominik Gruellich
Damon Heta 6-3 Steve Lennon
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Florian Hempel
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Kevin Doets 6-5 Dom Taylor
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-2 Oskar Lukasiak
Carl Sneyd 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Peter Wright 6-3 Dylan Slevin
James Wade 6-2 Adam Hunt
Josh Rock 6-2 Alan Soutar
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Chris Dobey 6-1 Adam Warner
Jack Tweddell 6-5 Martijn Dragt
Ross Smith 6-2 George Killington
Thibault Tricole 6-5 William Borland
Mike De Decker 6-4 Darryl Pilgrim
Darren Beveridge 6-2 Jim Long
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Madars Razma
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Gian van Veen 6-2 Maximilian Czerwinski
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Chris Landman
Last 32
William O’Connor 6-2 Tom Bissell
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Danny Noppert
Michael Smith 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Max Hopp
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Rob Owen
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Damon Heta 6-1 Mensur Suljovic
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Kevin Doets
Carl Sneyd 6-3 Mario Vandenbogaerde
James Wade 6-5 Peter Wright
Josh Rock 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Chris Dobey 6-2 Jack Tweddell
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Ross Smith
Darren Beveridge 6-4 Mike De Decker
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Gian van Veen 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Last 16
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 William O’Connor
Michael Smith 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Damon Heta 6-1 Wessel Nijman
James Wade 6-2 Carl Sneyd
Chris Dobey 6-3 Josh Rock
Thibault Tricole 6-3 Darren Beveridge
Gian van Veen 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Quarter-Finals
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Michael Smith
Damon Heta 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Chris Dobey 6-3 James Wade
Gian van Veen 6-3 Thibault Tricole
Semi-Finals
Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-6 Damon Heta
Chris Dobey 7-5 Gian van Veen
Final
Chris Dobey 8-7 Dirk van Duijvenbode
