Jeffrey De Graaf clinches maiden PDC ranking title at Players Championship 24
Jeffrey De Graaf claimed a maiden PDC ranking title at Players Championship 24 courtesy of a deciding-leg victory over Stephen Bunting in Milton Keynes on Monday.
The Dutch-born Swede, who had reached the final of Event Eight in March, went one better at the Marshall Arena to become the first Swedish player to secure a PDC ranking title.
Despite Bunting racing to a 4-1 lead in the final, De Graaf reeled off four consecutive legs to move 5-4 ahead, and held firm in a last-leg decider to scoop the £15,000 top prize.
“It means a lot, it’s my first title ever in the PDC so it’s a great feeling, it’s fantastic,” said De Graaf.
“In the beginning, I missed a few doubles, but I got it over the line. I’m still shaking!
“I’m happy to be the first [Swedish player to win a Players Championship title], but hopefully not the last.
“For me, this is massive, it takes the pressure off me too, so it is great.”
De Graaf squeezed through the opening round in a deciding leg against Adam Paxton, and followed up a 6-4 win over Ryan Searle and another last-leg deciding win over Jose De Sousa.
The Nordic & Baltic star then defeated former World Champion Michael Smith 6-2 in the Last 16, before recording dominant 6-1 and 7-2 wins over Alan Soutar and Scott Williams respectively to book his place in the final.
In a high-quality final, De Graaf saved his best performance for last, defying a 106 average from Bunting and producing a 102 average of his own to clinch the title.
Bunting produced a string of superb performances across the day, averaging in excess of 99 in all seven of his matches.
The world number four began the day with a 105 average in his 6-3 win over Adam Hunt, following up with victories over Cam Crabtree and recent ProTour event winner Sebastian Bialecki.
Bunting then overcame Brett Claydon 6-4 with another stellar average of 104 in the Last 16, followed by a 6-1 rout over Rob Cross in the quarter-finals.
The two-time World Series winner then produced a 106 average as he swept aside Ross Smith 7-2 in the semi-finals to reach a third Players Championship final in his last five appearances.
However, defeated marked his seventh loss in eight Players Championship final appearances since 2024.
Meanwhile, Luke Littler’s return to the ProTour after a five-month absence included a thrilling 6-5 victory over fellow World Champion Beau Greaves in the third round, but the World Matchplay winner eventually went down 6-4 to Rob Cross in the Last 16, ending a 16-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Michael van Gerwen was also eliminated in the Last 16 at the hands of Scott Williams, despite recording an average of 108 in his 6-3 defeat.
Williams struck a nine-darter in his 6-0 whitewash of James Hurrell in the third round, and followed this with a 6-4 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Greaves averaged 107 in her opening round 6-0 demolition of Dennie Olde Kalter and went on to defeat Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 before losing out to Littler.
World Grand Prix Champion Mike De Decker produced the best performance of the day, averaging 108 in his 6-2 victory over Wesley Plaisier in Round One.
Players Championship 24 Results
Monday August 25
First Round
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Graham Hall
Tavis Dudeney 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Martin Schindler 6-0 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Rob Owen 6-5 Viktor Tingstrom
Mike De Decker 6-2 Wesley Plaisier
Greg Ritchie 6-3 Ricky Evans
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Robert Grundy
James Hurrell 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Jim Williams
Wessel Nijman 6-3 David Davies
Scott Williams 6-5 Tom Bissell
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Ted Evetts
Adam Warner 6-4 Owen Bates
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 George Killington
Jitse Van der Wal 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Michele Turetta
Connor Scutt 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Damon Heta 6-0 Ian White
Nick Kenny 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Madars Razma 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Alan Soutar 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
James Wade 6-2 Martijn Dragt
Cor Dekker 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Michael Smith 6-5 Marvin van Velzen
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Niko Springer
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Justin Hood
Dominik Gruellich 6-3 Christian Kist
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jose De Sousa 6-4 Jim Long
Ryan Searle 6-3 Patrick Geeraets
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-5 Adam Paxton
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Kevin Doets
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Adam Hunt
Cam Crabtree 6-0 Kim Huybrechts
Peter Wright 6-5 Carl Sneyd
Alexander Merkx 6-4 Leon Weber
Brett Claydon 6-5 Danny Noppert
Dylan Slevin 6-3 Jack Tweddell
Rob Cross 6-2 Kai Gotthardt
Rhys Griffin 6-1 Max Hopp
Darren Beveridge 6-5 Gian van Veen
Berry van Peer 6-5 Andy Boulton
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Pero Ljubic
Beau Greaves 6-0 Dennie Olde Kalter
Luke Littler 6-2 Darryl Pilgrim
Stefaan Henderyck 6-5 Thomas Lovely
William O’Connor 6-5 Stefan Bellmont
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Danny Lauby
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Joe Hunt
Keane Barry 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Andrew Gilding 6-0 Thibault Tricole
Steve Lennon 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Stephen Burton
Oskar Lukasiak 6-3 Benjamin Reus
Chris Landman 6-3 Joe Cullen
Florian Hempel 6-1 Joshua Richardson
Ross Smith 6-4 Mervyn King
Callan Rydz 6-3 Matt Campbell
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Dom Taylor
Andy Baetens 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Jamai van den Herik 6-5 Tytus Kanik
Second Round
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Tavis Dudeney
Martin Schindler 6-5 Rob Owen
Greg Ritchie 6-2 Mike De Decker
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
James Hurrell 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Scott Williams 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Adam Warner
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Jitse Van der Wal
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Connor Scutt
Nick Kenny 6-0 Damon Heta
Alan Soutar 6-3 Madars Razma
James Wade 6-4 Cor Dekker
Michael Smith 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Dominik Gruellich
Jose De Sousa 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-4 Ryan Searle
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Alexander Merkx 6-4 Peter Wright
Brett Claydon 6-5 Dylan Slevin
Rob Cross 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Darren Beveridge 6-2 Berry van Peer
Beau Greaves 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Littler 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 William O’Connor
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Keane Barry
Steve Lennon 6-1 Andrew Gilding
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Oskar Lukasiak
Florian Hempel 6-4 Chris Landman
Ross Smith 6-2 Callan Rydz
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Andy Baetens
Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Last 32
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Martin Schindler
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Greg Ritchie
Scott Williams 6-0 James Hurrell
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Nick Kenny 6-0 Krzysztof Ratajski
Alan Soutar 6-5 James Wade
Michael Smith 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Brett Claydon 6-2 Alexander Merkx
Rob Cross 6-2 Darren Beveridge
Luke Littler 6-5 Beau Greaves
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Steve Lennon 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Ross Smith 6-1 Florian Hempel
Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Last 16
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Scott Williams 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Alan Soutar 6-4 Nick Kenny
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Michael Smith
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Brett Claydon
Rob Cross 6-4 Luke Littler
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Steve Lennon
Ross Smith 6-4 Jamai van den Herik
Quarter-Finals
Scott Williams 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Alan Soutar
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Rob Cross
Ross Smith 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Semi-Finals
Jeffrey De Graaf 7-1 Scott Williams
Stephen Bunting 7-2 Ross Smith
Final
Jeffrey De Graaf 8-7 Stephen Bunting
