Dave Chisnall continues title spree at Players Championship 23

Dave Chisnall scooped a second ranking title in the space of five days as he thrashed Luke Humphries 8-3 to win Players Championship 23 in Barnsley on Thursday.

Chisnall overcame Humphries in a pulsating final at the Hungarian Darts Trophy on Sunday and repeated the feat at the Barnsley Metrodome to secure his first Players Championship title of the year.

The Morecambe marksman was in merciless mood throughout the day, ending with a 103 average and nine maximums in a high-quality final against world number six Humphries.

Chisnall made a blistering start to the contest, drawing first blood with an 11-darter and doubling his tally with a 114 finish.

The 43-year-old then fired in six perfect darts on his way to a 3-0 lead and left himself on 36 after just nine darts in leg four as his majestic scoring continued.

Humphries halted Chisnall’s charge with a 14-dart break in leg five, only for ‘Chizzy’ to produce a delightful double-double 93 checkout to resume the procession.

Despite firing in back-to-back 180s in leg nine, Humphries saw Chisnall move a leg away from victory with a 66 finish, before preserving his hopes with a 106 skin-saver in leg ten.

Nevertheless, Chisnall’s relentless assault on the treble 20 continued, and after crashing in successive maximums to set up a potential ten-darter, he eventually sealed the deal on double five.

“I played well today,” reflected Chisnall, who has remarkably seen his four title wins in 2023 culminate with victories over Humphries.

“I got a good lead against Luke there and I didn’t let it slip. I was scoring very well, and even when I lost legs, they were legs I should have won.

“With the way I’m playing, I think I’m due a big title, and it could be next week at the World Grand Prix.”

After brushing aside Tony Martinez in his opener, Chisnall was handed a major reprieve in Round Two, surviving four match darts as he overturned a 5-2 deficit against Jim Williams.

He capitalised on his good fortune, averaging 106 in a Third Round 6-1 demolition of Richard Veenstra, and later ended Stephen Burton’s hopes to progress to the Quarter-Finals.

The two-time World Grand Prix runner-up then posted another ton-plus average in his whitewash of Brendan Dolan, before edging out a resurgent Christian Kist 7-6 in the Semi-Finals.

Humphries stormed through to the Last 16 in emphatic fashion, averaging 105, 100 and 106 in defeating Jimmy Hendriks, Mervyn King and Andy Boulton.

He then came through a gruelling Last 16 clash against European Champion Ross Smith 6-4, before averaging in three figures to dump out Jonny Clayton 6-3 in the Quarter-Finals.

This set up a showdown against a revitalised Gary Anderson, though Humphries’ clinical combination finishing steered him to an impressive 7-4 success.

Despite missing out on the £12,000 top prize, Anderson maintained his terrific form in reaching the Semi-Finals, notably dispatching Stephen Bunting with a 111.4 average in the Last 32.

The two-time World Champion also averaged 105 and 106 in 6-1 wins over Luke Woodhouse and Chris Dobey to reach the Semi-Finals, having featured in the Last Eight on Wednesday.

Anderson was joined in the semis by Wednesday’s runner-up Kist, who continued his magnificent resurgence with a string of spectacular performances.

The 2012 Lakeside Champion averaged 101 across his six matches, dumping out Mike De Decker and accounting for German duo Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko – averaging 109 against the latter.

Germany’s Pietreczko bowed out in the Quarter-Finals alongside Dolan, Clayton and Masters champion Chris Dobey, who won through a deciding-leg tussle against Michael van Gerwen earlier in the day.

Players Championship 23 Results

Thursday September 28

First Round
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Tony Martinez
Jim Williams 6-0 John O’Shea
Steve Beaton 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
James Wade 6-2 Martijn Kleermaker
Scott Williams 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
James Wilson 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Burton 6-4 Robert Owen
Danny Noppert 6-1 Jules van Dongen
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Madars Razma
William O’Connor 6-1 Jeff Smith
Michael Smith 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Ryan Joyce 6-0 Cam Crabtree
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Owen Roelofs 6-0 Joe Murnan
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Connor Scutt
Robert Grundy 6-1 Nick Kenny
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Krzysztof Kciuk
Kevin Burness 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Joe Cullen
Owen Bates 6-3 Ross Montgomery
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Steve Lennon 6-0 Bradley Brooks
Josh Rock 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Darren Webster
Dylan Slevin 6-1 Callan Rydz
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Matt Campbell
Martin Schindler 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Arron Monk 6-3 Florian Hempel
Mike De Decker 6-3 Chris Landman
Christian Kist 6-0 Shaun Wilkinson
Luke Humphries 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Mervyn King 6-3 Devon Petersen
Gian van Veen 6-3 Daniel Klose
Andy Boulton 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Ross Smith 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Scott Waites
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Richie Burnett
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Lewis Williams
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 George Killington
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Ian White 6-3 Keegan Brown
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Adam Warner
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 Lee Evans
Gabriel Clemens 6-0 Alan Soutar
Pascal Rupprecht 6-4 Jacques Labre
Damon Heta 6-1 Brian Raman
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Jamie Hughes
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Ted Evetts 6-3 Vladimir Andersen
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Boris Krcmar
Danny Jansen 6-3 Josh Payne
Gary Anderson 6-0 Robbie Knops
Jose Justicia 6-3 Kevin Doets
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Ricky Evans
Jamie Clark 6-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Chris Dobey 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Callum Goffin 6-3 Geert Nentjes
Ryan Searle 6-2 Graham Hall
John Henderson 6 -3 Keane Barry
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Damian Mol
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Graham Usher

Second Round
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Jim Williams
Richard Veenstra 6-3 Steve Beaton
James Wade 6-3 Scott Williams
Stephen Burton 6-3 James Wilson
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Danny Noppert
Brendan Dolan 6-2 William O’Connor
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Michael Smith
Owen Roelofs 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Robert Grundy
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Kevin Burness
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Owen Bates
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Steve Lennon
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Josh Rock
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Martin Schindler 6-4 Arron Monk
Christian Kist 6-5 Mike De Decker
Luke Humphries 6-2 Mervyn King
Andy Boulton 6-2 Gian van Veen
Ross Smith 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Ian White 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Pascal Rupprecht 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Damon Heta 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Ted Evetts
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Danny Jansen
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jose Justicia
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Jamie Clark
Chris Dobey 6-3 Callum Goffin
Ryan Searle 6-1 John Henderson
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Ritchie Edhouse
Losers: £750

Last 32
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Stephen Burton 6-3 James Wade
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Owen Roelofs
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Christian Kist 6-4 Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries 6-4 Andy Boulton
Ross Smith 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Ian White
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Pascal Rupprecht
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Damon Heta
Gary Anderson 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Ryan Searle 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Losers: £1,250

Last 16
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Stephen Burton
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Christian Kist 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Luke Humphries 6-4 Ross Smith
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Gary Anderson 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
Chris Dobey 6-1 Ryan Searle
Losers: £2,000

Quarter-Finals
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Brendan Dolan
Christian Kist 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Luke Humphries 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Gary Anderson 6-1 Chris Dobey
Losers: £3,000

Semi-Finals
Dave Chisnall 7-6 Christian Kist
Luke Humphries 7-4 Gary Anderson
Losers: £4,000

Final
Dave Chisnall 8-3 Luke Humphries
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000

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