Sebastian Bialecki seals first senior PDC title at Players Championship 22

Sebastian Bialecki secured a maiden PDC ranking title at Players Championship 22 in Hildesheim with an 8-6 victory over Niels Zonneveld in the final on Tuesday.

Bialecki broke new ground with a landmark triumph at Halle 39, overturning a 6-4 deficit against Zonneveld to join Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski in becoming the third Polish player to win a senior PDC title.

The 21-year-old had suffered six consecutive first round exits on the ProTour ahead of Tuesday’s action but snapped that streak in sensational style to scoop the £15,000 top prize.

Bialecki had also previously never progressed beyond the Last 16 of a Players Championship event, but defied the record books with a string of superb performances in Germany.

The former UK Open quarter-finalist recovered from 5-3 down to edge out Lukas Wenig in his opener, before overcoming Adam Paxton, Luke Woodhouse and Cameron Menzies to reach the quarter-finals.

Bialecki registered ton-plus averages in wins over Menzies and Gian van Veen and also landed sensational checkouts of 161 and 156 to defeat Danny Noppert 7-5 in the semi-finals.

This set up a showdown against another Dutch star in Zonneveld – who ended a sequence of eight successive holds of throw to establish a 6-4 lead.

However, Bialecki halted Zonneveld’s charge via double 16, before producing legs of 15, 12 and 13 darts to secure the biggest win of his career to date.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m over the moon,” said Bialecki, who is currently in his first year as a Tour Card Holder.

“I was 5-3 down in my first match but I made the comeback, and then my confidence and game got better and better.

“The game against Cameron was probably the most important for me, because I had lost five times in the Last 16 before.

“I just want to keep playing my best game. The most important target was to qualify for the World Championship from the ProTour, so hopefully I have done enough now.”

Bialecki’s triumph sees him climb 19 places to 79th in the PDC Order of Merit, securing a spot in December’s World Championship in the process.

Zonneveld – who was also chasing his maiden ranking title – averaged 101 in his opening round demolition of New Zealand’s Haupai Puha, which he backed up with wins over Henry Coates and Joe Cullen.

The left-hander then accounted for his fellow countrymen Wesley Plaisier and Jamai van den Herik to reach the semi-finals – where he launched a superb fightback from 4-0 down to see off Cam Crabtree.

Crabtree had dumped out World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker and averaged 105 to sweep aside Steve Lennon, as the 21-year-old secured his spot in a second Players Championship semi-final.

He was joined in the Last Four by former UK Open champion Noppert – one of five Dutch stars who featured in the Last Eight, alongside World Youth Champion Van Veen, Van Schie and rising star Van den Herik.

Van Veen averaged 106 in his third round victory over Owen Bates, but the performance of the day was delivered by Swedish star Harrysson, who averaged 110.18 in his 6-2 success over Max Hopp.

Martin Schindler, Wessel Nijman, Dimitri van den Bergh and Ricardo Pietreczko were among the notable first round casualties.

Players Championship 22 Results

Tuesday July 29

First Round
Niko Springer 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Carl Sneyd 6-4 Andy Boulton
Connor Scutt 6-5 Martin Schindler
Kevin Burness 6-3 Jim Williams
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Kai Gotthardt
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Danny van Trijp 6-3 Christian Kist
Max Hopp 6-5 Callan Rydz
Andreas Harrysson 6-0 James Hurrell
Danny Noppert 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Tom Bissell 6-5 Adam Warner
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Martijn Dragt
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-4 Danny Lauby
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 Leon Weber
Ian White 6-4 Michael Flynn
Stephen Burton 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Radek Szaganski
Robert Grundy 6-4 Ted Evetts
Adam Paxton 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Lukas Wenig
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Thibault Tricole 6-2 Tavis Dudeney
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Florian Hempel
Owen Bates 6-1 Patrick Geeraets
Gian van Veen 6-2 William Borland
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
William O’Connor 6-1 Tom Sykes
Dylan Slevin 6-2 Jarno Bottenberg
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Rhys Griffin 6-0 Jack Tweddell
Alan Soutar 6-4 Jeffrey De Graaf
Dom Taylor 6-2 Graham Hall
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Benjamin Reus
Matthew Dennant 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Ricky Evans
Berry van Peer 6-5 Brett Claydon
Nathan Rafferty 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Viktor Tingstrom 6-0 George Killington
Madars Razma 6-5 Rob Owen
Steve Lennon 6-1 Greg Ritchie
Mike De Decker 6-5 Alexander Merkx
Cam Crabtree 6-2 Michele Turetta
Arno Merk 6-2 Scott Williams
Marvin van Velzen 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Keane Barry 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Jim Long
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Dominik Gruellich 6-3 Thomas Lovely
Ross Smith 6-3 Chris Landman
Wesley Plaisier 6-1 Nick Kenny
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Haupai Puha
Henry Coates 6-3 Darryl Pilgrim
Joe Cullen 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Stefan Bellmont 6-5 Dennie Olde Kalter
Justin Hood 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Sietse Lap
Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Darren Beveridge 6-5 Mervyn King
Kevin Doets 6-1 Joshua Richardson
Adam Hunt 6-3 Cor Dekker
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Andy Baetens

Second Round
Niko Springer 6-5 Carl Sneyd
Kevin Burness 6-3 Connor Scutt
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-5 Danny van Trijp
Andreas Harrysson 6-2 Max Hopp
Danny Noppert 6-4 Tom Bissell
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Adam Lipscombe
Ian White 6-0 Stephen Burton
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Robert Grundy
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Adam Paxton
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Thibault Tricole
Owen Bates 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Gian van Veen 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Dylan Slevin 6-3 William O’Connor
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Rhys Griffin
Alan Soutar 6-3 Dom Taylor
Matthew Dennant 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Berry van Peer
Viktor Tingstrom 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Steve Lennon 6-5 Madars Razma
Cam Crabtree 6-2 Mike De Decker
Arno Merk 6-5 Marvin van Velzen
Keane Barry 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Dominik Gruellich 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Ross Smith
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Henry Coates
Joe Cullen 6-2 Stefan Bellmont
Justin Hood 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Jamai van den Herik 6-4 Darren Beveridge
Kevin Doets 6-2 Adam Hunt
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Daryl Gurney

Last 32
Kevin Burness 6-5 Niko Springer
Jimmy van Schie 6-4 Maximilian Czerwinski
Danny Noppert 6-3 Andreas Harrysson
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Ian White
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Gian van Veen 6-1 Owen Bates
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Dylan Slevin
Matthew Dennant 6-4 Alan Soutar
Viktor Tingstrom 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Cam Crabtree 6-1 Steve Lennon
Keane Barry 6-3 Arno Merk
Wesley Plaisier 6-2 Dominik Gruellich
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Joe Cullen
Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Justin Hood
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Kevin Doets

Last 16
Jimmy van Schie 6-4 Kevin Burness
Danny Noppert 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Gian van Veen 6-1 Ryan Meikle
Matthew Dennant 6-2 Viktor Tingstrom
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Keane Barry
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Jamai van den Herik 6-1 Karel Sedlacek

Quarter-Finals
Danny Noppert 6-4 Jimmy van Schie
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Gian van Veen
Cam Crabtree 6-3 Matthew Dennant
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Jamai van den Herik

Semi-Finals
Sebastian Bialecki 7-5 Danny Noppert
Niels Zonneveld 7-5 Cam Crabtree

Final
Sebastian Bialecki 8-6 Niels Zonneveld