Dave Chisnall clinches fifth title of 2023 at Players Championship 30
Dave Chisnall sealed a fifth ranking title of 2023 at Players Championship 30 with an 8-4 win over Jim Williams in the final in Barnsley on Thursday.
Chisnall has enjoyed a superb year on the PDC circuit, winning three European Tour events and September’s Players Championship 23, and the Morecambe ace took the spoils in the final ProTour event of the campaign.
Chisnall warmed up for the upcoming Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals in perfect fashion with seven superb victories at the Barnsley Metrodome, going one better than his runner-up spot 24 hours earlier.
The number one seed began his route to glory with a 6-4 win over Jeffrey Sparidaans, before seeing off Irish duo Dylan Slevin and Steve Lennon.
He then averaged 105.6 in a 6-4 defeat of Jamie Hughes in the Last 16, before following up with a blistering 111.3 average in a 6-2 triumph over Scott Waites.
Chisnall then overcame World Youth Championship finalist Gian van Veen 7-4 in the Semi-Finals, opening up a 4-1 lead before holding out to seal victory with a 98 average.
Chizzy proved too strong for Williams in the final, with a devastating six-leg burst seeing him open up a 6-1 advantage over the Welshman.
Williams won two of the next three to maintain his hopes, but Chisnall followed up a sensational 167 checkout in leg ten with a seventh 180 of the contest as he closed out victory.
“I’m playing some good darts,” said Chisnall. “I think I played better yesterday than I did today, but luckily for me I got away with a few games early on and did the job.
“I know I can play the game, I’m playing well and it shows – it’s a good job there was no Gezzy here today to stop me!
“If I can keep winning these, it keeps me up the rankings. If I put some time in, I’ll definitely be better – I’m alright at the moment.”
Williams’ run to the final was his best result on the circuit this year – bettering his Semi-Final appearance at Players Championship 25.
His best display statistically came in a Last 16 victory over Mario Vandenbogaerde, where he averaged 105.3, in a result which was sandwiched between averages of 99 and 98 in wins over Josh Rock and Danny Noppert respectively, while he saw off Damon Heta 7-5 in a see-saw Semi-Final.
Heta was a semi-finalist for the 12th time on the ProTour this year, seeing off World Champion Michael Smith in another strong day of darts.
Van Veen, meanwhile, followed up last weekend’s run to the Semi-Finals of the European Championship by reaching the Last Four of a third Players Championship in his breakthrough year.
Smith, Noppert and Waites were joined in the Quarter-Finals by rising star Cam Crabtree – who won through to the Last Eight for the second time on the ProTour but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Players Championship Finals.
Former Grand Slam champion Waites needed to reach Thursday’s final to snatch qualification for the Players Championship Finals, and defeated Krzysztof Ratajski and Ross Smith in his valiant run to the Last Eight, meaning that he also missed out on a spot in Minehead later this month.
Ricky Evans held on to claim the 64th place in the Players Championship Finals on a memorable day which saw him land a nine-dart finish in the second leg of his first round win over Callan Rydz – taking just 36 seconds to complete a perfect leg.
Players Championship 30 Results
Thursday November 2
First Round
Ian White 6-3 Alan Soutar
Steve Lennon 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Dylan Slevin 6-3 John O’Shea
Dom Taylor 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Jamie Hughes 6-4 James Wade
Brian Raman 6-3 Darren Webster
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Ross Smith 6-4 Adam Smith-Neale
Andy Boulton 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Kevin Doets 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Scott Waites 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Robbie Knops
Robert Owen 6- 5 Madars Razma
Ricky Evans 6-4 Callan Rydz – *Evans hits a nine-darter*
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Stephen Burton
Rob Cross 6-2 William Borland
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Gian van Veen 6-3 Damian Mol
Jimmy Hendriks 6-1 Kevin Burness
George Killington 6-4 Joe Cullen
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Joe Murnan
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Owen Roelofs
Jonny Clayton 6-3 William O’Connor
Nick Kenny 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Shaun Wilkinson
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Jeff Smith
Cam Crabtree 6-2 Keane Barry
Steve Beaton 6-4 Callum Goffin
Owen Bates 6-5 Matt Campbell
Damon Heta 6-2 Josh Payne
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker
Daryl Gurney 6-0 Keegan Brown
Ritchie Edhouse 6-0 James Wilson
Nathan Rafferty 6-4 Peter Wright
Chris Landman 6-4 James Hurrell
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Scott Williams 6-2 Vladimir Andersen
Michael Smith 6-3 Florian Hempel
Graham Usher 6-4 Christian Kist
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Mike De Decker
Arron Monk 6-2 Ted Evetts
Ryan Searle 6-3 Graham Hall
Mervyn King 6-2 Lee Evans
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Jamie Clark
Jim Williams 6-3 Luc Peters
Josh Rock 6-1 Adam Warner
Scott Mitchell 6-5 Danny van Trijp
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Danny Jansen
Danny Lauby 6-5 Berry van Peer
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-0 Martin Schindler
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Richie Burnett
Chris Dobey 6-2 Connor Scutt
Adam Gawlas 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Danny Noppert 6-3 Tony Martinez
Daniel Klose 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Martin Lukeman
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Jules van Dongen
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Devon Petersen
Ross Montgomery 6-5 Jacques Labre
Second Round
Steve Lennon 6-5 Ian White
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Dylan Slevin
Dom Taylor 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Jamie Hughes 6-2 Brian Raman
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Ross Smith 6-3 Andy Boulton
Scott Waites 6-5 Kevin Doets
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Robert Owen
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Ricky Evans
Rob Cross 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk
Gian van Veen 6-1 Jimmy Hendriks
Simon Whitlock 6-1 George Killington
Richard Veenstra 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Nick Kenny
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Owen Bates 6-1 Steve Beaton
Damon Heta 6-1 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Chris Landman 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Scott Williams
Michael Smith 6-3 Graham Usher
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Arron Monk
Ryan Searle 6-4 Mervyn King
Jim Williams 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Josh Rock 6-0 Scott Mitchell
Danny Lauby 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Adam Gawlas 6-2 Chris Dobey
Danny Noppert 6-5 Daniel Klose
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Ross Montgomery
Losers: £750
Last 32
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Steve Lennon
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Dom Taylor
Ross Smith 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Scott Waites 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Rob Cross 6-3 Radek Szaganski
Gian van Veen 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Cam Crabtree 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Damon Heta 6-5 Owen Bates
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Chris Landman
Michael Smith 6-2 Boris Krcmar
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Ryan Searle
Jim Williams 6-4 Josh Rock
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Danny Lauby
Danny Noppert 6-0 Adam Gawlas
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jamie Hughes
Scott Waites 6-1 Ross Smith
Gian van Veen 6-5 Rob Cross
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Damon Heta 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Jim Williams 6-2 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Danny Noppert 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Scott Waites
Gian van Veen 6-2 Cam Crabtree
Damon Heta 6-2 Michael Smith
Jim Williams 6-3 Danny Noppert
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Dave Chisnall 7-4 Gian van Veen
Jim Williams 7-5 Damon Heta
Losers: £4,000
Final
Dave Chisnall 8-4 Jim Williams
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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