Karel Sedlacek claims historic maiden Players Championship title
Karel Sedlacek became the first Czech player to win a PDC ranking title courtesy of an historic 8-7 victory over Scott Williams in the Players Championship 30 final in Den Bosch.
Sedlacek continued the terrific vein of form which had guided him to two semi-finals on the ProTour earlier this year as he broke new ground to clinch the £15,000 top prize on Wednesday.
Sedlacek defied nine 180s from a resurgent Williams to triumph in a breathless decider, squandering seven match darts before regaining his composure to close out a landmark triumph.
The 47-year-old made a blistering start to the day, dropping just two legs in emphatic victories over Tavis Dudeney, Daniel Klose and Damon Heta.
Sedlacek averaged 105 in his demolition of Australia’s number one and continued his charge with a 6-3 success against former World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.
The Czech trailblazer then fought back from 3-0 and 4-1 down to stun Chris Dobey in the quarter-finals, before hammering Niels Zonneveld 7-2 to reach his first PDC ranking final.
Williams’ relentless scoring power saw him establish a 4-2 lead in the final, but consecutive checkouts of 123, 80 and 164 from Sedlacek saw him regain the initiative at 5-4.
The pendulum shifted once more when Sedlacek missed five darts to complete an 8-5 win, though he held his nerve in an incredible climax, after a wayward dart at the single 20 from Williams denied him the chance to convert a match-winning 112 checkout.
“For me it’s a really special time,” reflected a visibly emotional Sedlacek.
“I have been waiting for this for more than ten years and now it’s a reality. It’s crazy.
“I missed five match darts and thought what could I do more. I went step-by-step and I said ‘you can do it!’
“It still sounds like a dream. I’m really happy, but I said last Saturday when I lost against Gian [van Veen], I played really well.
“It means everything. I have played more than 30 years, and now I’ve done it. I don’t know what to say. For me, I think that’s the top of my career.
“Darts is growing in Czech Republic day by day. There are more and more players and good players. I think this is one of the best points of my career.”
Despite missing out a second PDC ranking title, Williams performed magnificently at Maassport Den Bosch, averaging 99.36 across seven matches to boost his World Championship qualification hopes.
The 36-year-old – who was £6,000 adrift of the provisional cut-off prior to Wednesday’s play – crashed in an astonishing 33 maximums throughout the day.
The former World Championship semi-finalist opened up with impressive wins over Mensur Suljovic and Danny Noppert, which he backed up with a monstrous 110.4 average in defeating Richard Veenstra.
Williams then averaged 103 in sweeping aside Tommy Lishman, before dumping out Dutch duo Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena to reach his first ProTour final since June 2025.
Wattimena’s run to the semi-finals saw him follow up averages of 103 and 101 with deciding-leg victories against Martin Schindler and Steve Lennon, only to fall short in his pursuit of success on home soil.
Zonneveld was similarly impressive, opening his campaign with a 106.5 average, before recording wins over Sebastian Bialecki, Luke Woodhouse and Raymond van Barneveld to reach his first Players Championship semi-final of 2026.
A resurgent Van Barneveld registered a quartet of 6-2 victories to reach his first ranking quarter-final of the season, which also moves him into the provisional World Championship qualification places.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, avenged Tuesday’s defeat against Benjamin Pratnemer with victory over the Slovenian in round one, before averaging 107.5 to triumph in a pulsating all-Dutch affair against Jimmy van Schie.
Lennon – competing in his first PDC ranking quarter-final since February 2024 – completed the quarter-final line-up alongside Dobey – also a quarter-finalist on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s champion Cameron Menzies saw his bid for back-to-back titles curtailed by Callan Rydz in their opening round clash, as Rydz recovered from 5-1 down to complete a remarkable fightback.
Meanwhile, Josh Rock suffered a crushing 6-1 defeat at the hands of Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde in round one, leaving his hopes of qualifying for November’s Players Championship Finals in growing doubt.
Players Championship 30 Results
Wednesday September 23
First Round
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Chris Landman
Owen Bates 6-3 Ben Townley
Wessel Nijman 6-3 David Sharp
Kai Gotthardt 6-3 Ricky Evans
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Carl Sneyd
Jimmy van Schie 6-0 James Beeton
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Benjamin Pratnemer
Ian White 6-2 Nathan Potter
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Greg Ritchie
Stefaan Henderyck 6-5 Dan Hands
Danny Noppert 6-4 Adam Warner
Scott Williams 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Joe Hunt 6-1 Beau Greaves
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Henry Coates
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Tommy Lishman 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Andy Boulton
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Stef Kosters
Kevin Doets 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Lewis Pride 6-1 Adam Leek
Rob Owen 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Callan Rydz 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Steve Lennon 6-1 Darryl Pilgrim
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Florian Preis
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Niall Culleton
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Jim Long
Marvin van Velzen 6-2 Samuel Price
Martin Schindler 6-4 Matthias Ehlers
Alan Soutar 6-5 Madars Razma
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-1 Josh Rock
Tommy Morris 6-5 Levy Frauenfelder
Keane Barry 6-0 Martin Lukeman
Peter Wright 6-2 Mike De Decker
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Justin Hood
Leon Weber 6-3 Dennie Olde Kalter
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Connor Scutt
Shane McGuirk 6-4 Martijn Dragt
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Sietse Lap
Stephen Rosney 6-0 Ricardo Pietreczko
Tyler Thorpe 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Stephen Burton
Cam Crabtree 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stefan Bellmont 6-3 Thibault Tricole
Alexander Merkx 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf
James Hurrell 6-4 Ted Evetts
Oskar Lukasiak 6-5 William O’Connor
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Filip Bereza
Charlie Manby 6-4 Max Hopp
Thomas Lovely 6-4 Nick Kenny
Chris Dobey 6-5 Gilbert van der Meijden
Arno Merk 6-5 Christian Kist
Tom Sykes 6-3 Cristo Reyes
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Cor Dekker
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Viktor Tingstrom
Michael Smith 6-5 Marvin Kraft
Adam Paxton 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Tom Bissell 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Mervyn King
Archie Self 6-1 Pero Ljubic
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Daniel Klose 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Damon Heta 6-2 Dominik Gruellich
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Second Round
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Owen Bates
Kai Gotthardt 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Ian White
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Scott Williams 6-5 Danny Noppert
Joe Hunt 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Tommy Lishman 6-2 Maximilian Czerwinski
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Lukas Wenig
Kevin Doets 6-4 Lewis Pride
Rob Owen 6-1 Ryan Meikle
Steve Lennon 6-3 Callan Rydz
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Marvin van Velzen
Martin Schindler 6-2 Alan Soutar
Tommy Morris 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Keane Barry 6-5 Peter Wright
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Leon Weber
Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Shane McGuirk
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Stephen Rosney
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Tyler Thorpe
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Stefan Bellmont
James Hurrell 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
Charlie Manby 6-4 Thomas Lovely
Chris Dobey 6-1 Arno Merk
Tom Sykes 6-2 Jurjen van der Velde
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Michael Smith
Adam Paxton 6-5 Tom Bissell
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Archie Self
Karel Sedlacek 6-0 Daniel Klose
Damon Heta 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Last 32
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Kai Gotthardt
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Jimmy van Schie
Scott Williams 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Tommy Lishman 6-5 Joe Hunt
Kevin Doets 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Steve Lennon 6-2 Rob Owen
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Martin Schindler 6-1 Tommy Morris
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Keane Barry
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Sebastian Bialecki
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Cam Crabtree
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-4 James Hurrell
Chris Dobey 6-2 Charlie Manby
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Tom Sykes
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Adam Paxton
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Damon Heta
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Scott Williams 6-3 Tommy Lishman
Steve Lennon 6-4 Kevin Doets
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Martin Schindler
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Chris Dobey 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Quarter-Finals
Scott Williams 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Steve Lennon
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Chris Dobey
Semi-Finals
Scott Williams 7-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Karel Sedlacek 7-2 Niels Zonneveld
Final
Karel Sedlacek 8-7 Scott Williams
