Chris Dobey completes the double with Players Championship 9 triumph
Chris Dobey claimed his second ranking title of 2026 at Players Championship 9 with an 8-4 victory over Justin Hood in Monday’s final in Wigan.
Dobey followed up February’s Players Championship 3 triumph by joining Wessel Nijman as the second player to secure multiple ProTour titles this season.
The Bedlington ace produced a series of dazzling displays at the Robin Park Sports Centre to scoop the tenth Players Championship title of his career.
The former Masters champion opened up with a hard-fought 6-4 win over Dennie Olde Kalter, before thrashing Rhys Griffin 6-1 with a glistening 109.7 average – his best of the day.
The 35-year-old followed up with a comfortable 6-2 win over Canada’s Jim Long and a 6-1 rout of Luke Woodhouse, recording a 104.4 average to reach his third consecutive Players Championship quarter-final.
There, Dobey saw off Richard Veenstra 6-3 before hammering Andrew Gilding 7-1 with another stellar average of 103.5 to set up a showdown with Hood in the final.
It was Hood who took a two-leg lead after consecutive 12-darters on the bullseye with checkouts of 121 and 167, before Dobey hit back with five consecutive legs – including a fabulous 164 checkout – to move 5-2 up.
Hood remained resilient, incredibly producing another two finishes on the bullseye to keep the match alive at 7-4, but Dobey wrapped up the showpiece on double two to finish with a 105.3 average.
“The way I’ve been playing throughout the year, I’m hoping to pick up more titles,” said Dobey, who defied a 103 average from Hood in the final.
“It’s hard just to win one of these, so to win ten is a great feeling.
“I remember that game Justin had at the World Championship when he was 11/11 on the doubles. When those two bull finishes went in, I thought: ‘Not again!’
“He put up a good fight with some great shots at crucial times, but I played some good stuff all day, and I’m delighted with another win.
“I just want to start doing it on TV and picking up some European Tour titles. I know I can do it, it’s just about being consistent.”
Hood broke new ground in reaching his first ProTour final, beginning with a comfortable 6-2 victory over Ryan Meikle before downing Rob Owen 6-4 in a hard-fought encounter.
The World Championship quarter-finalist then registered his first ton-plus average of the day in seeing off Ireland’s Niall Culleton 6-3 and followed this with victory over Austrian stalwart Mensur Suljovic by the same scoreline to reach his second ProTour quarter-final.
There, Hood produced his best performance of the day, whitewashing Tom Sykes with a 104.8 average, before seeing off Connor Scutt 7-3 in the semi-finals.
In the other quarter-finals, Scutt saw off an in-form Tom Bissell 6-4, reaching his first Player Championship semi-final since September 2024 in the process.
Gilding also reached the semi-finals after ending the run Beau Greaves 6-3, as the 22-year-old became the first woman to reach a ProTour quarter-final in PDC history.
Greaves broke new ground thanks to a historic run which included victories over former World Champion Raymond van Barneveld and Premier League leader Jonny Clayton.
Meanwhile, Thomas Lovely struck perfection in his third round tie against Luke Woodhouse, hitting a nine-darter despite falling short in the contest.
Players Championship 9 Results
Monday April 13
First Round
Tytus Kanik 6-2 Stefan Bellmont
Tom Bissell 6-3 Alan Soutar
Kim Huybrechts 6-0 Jimmy van Schie
Scott Williams 6-5 Jack Tweddell
Niko Springer 6-0 Carl Sneyd
Ian White 6-2 Mervyn King
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Jack Aldridge
Callan Rydz 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Connor Scutt 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Adam Lipscombe 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf
Adam Leek 6-5 Martin Schindler
Chris Landman 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Steve Lennon 6-1 Maximilian Czerwinski
Ross Smith 6-2 Tommy Lishman
Tom Sykes 6-2 Ted Evetts
Michael Smith 6-0 Florian Preis
Owen Bates 6-5 Martin Lukeman
James Wade 6-3 David Sharp
Dominik Gruellich 6-1 Tommy Morris
Greg Ritchie 6-3 Joe Cullen
Martijn Dragt 6-5 Lukas Wenig
Rob Owen 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Justin Hood 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Mike De Decker 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Niall Culleton 6-3 Leon Weber
Josh Rock 6-2 Filip Bereza
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Yorick Hofkens
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-4 Ryan Joyce
James Hurrell 6-0 Andy Boulton
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Scott Waites
Cristo Reyes 6-2 Darryl Pilgrim
Beau Greaves 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Marvin van Velzen 6-2 Adam Warner
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Ricky Evans
Joe Hunt 6-0 Keane Barry
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Darius Labanauskas 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Luke Humphries 6-5 Daniel Klose
Cor Dekker 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Charlie Manby
Max Hopp 6-4 Adam Paxton
Damon Heta 6-4 Tyler Thorpe
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Stephen Burton
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Marvin Kraft
Cam Crabtree 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Chris Dobey 6-4 Dennie Olde Kalter
Rhys Griffin 6-5 Shane McGuirk
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Jim Long 6-1 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Samuel Price
Rob Cross 6-1 Matthias Ehlers
Thomas Lovely 6-2 William O’Connor
Nick Kenny 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Alexander Merkx 6-2 Danny Noppert
Peter Wright 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Richard Veenstra 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Christian Kist 6-2 Jurjen van der Velde
Madars Razma 6-0 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Sietse Lap 6-4 Stephen Rosney
Kevin Doets 6-5 Aden Kirk
Arno Merk 6-4 Viktor Tingstrom
Second Round
Tom Bissell 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Scott Williams
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Callan Rydz
Connor Scutt 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Adam Lipscombe
Adam Leek 6-2 Chris Landman
Steve Lennon 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Tom Sykes 6-4 Ross Smith
Michael Smith 6-4 Owen Bates
Dominik Gruellich 6-1 James Wade
Martijn Dragt 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Justin Hood 6-4 Rob Owen
Niall Culleton 6-3 Mike De Decker
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Josh Rock
James Hurrell 6-1 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Beau Greaves 6-3 Marvin van Velzen
Joe Hunt 6-4 Niels Zonneveld
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
Luke Humphries 6-5 Cor Dekker
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Max Hopp
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Damon Heta
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Cam Crabtree
Chris Dobey 6-1 Rhys Griffin
Jim Long 6-2 Benjamin Pratnemer
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Rob Cross
Thomas Lovely 6-5 Nick Kenny
Peter Wright 6-5 Alexander Merkx
Richard Veenstra 6-3 Christian Kist
Madars Razma 6-4 Sietse Lap
Kevin Doets 6-2 Arno Merk
Last 32
Tom Bissell 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Ian White
Connor Scutt 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Steve Lennon 6-4 Adam Leek
Tom Sykes 6-5 Michael Smith
Martijn Dragt 6-3 Dominik Gruellich
Justin Hood 6-3 Niall Culleton
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 James Hurrell
Beau Greaves 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Joe Hunt 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Luke Humphries 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Chris Dobey 6-2 Jim Long
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Thomas Lovely
Richard Veenstra 6-1 Peter Wright
Kevin Doets 6-3 Madars Razma
Last 16
Tom Bissell 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Connor Scutt 6-3 Steve Lennon
Tom Sykes 6-3 Martijn Dragt
Justin Hood 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Beau Greaves 6-4 Joe Hunt
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Luke Humphries
Chris Dobey 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Kevin Doets
Quarter-Finals
Connor Scutt 6-4 Tom Bissell
Justin Hood 6-0 Tom Sykes
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Beau Greaves
Chris Dobey 6-3 Richard Veenstra
Semi-Finals
Justin Hood 7-3 Connor Scutt
Chris Dobey 7-1 Andrew Gilding
Final
Chris Dobey 8-4 Justin Hood
