Dave Chisnall continues winning spell at Players Championship 25
Dave Chisnall secured his second PDC ranking title in the space of a month as he triumphed at Players Championship 25 in Barnsley, defeating Josh Rock in the final.
Chisnall had picked up the Belgian Darts Open title in September to end a three-year wait for silverware, and returned to the winner’s circle on the ProTour courtesy of a series of superb showings on Thursday.
The world number 15 registered five ton-plus averages in his seven wins en route to taking the £12,000 title and also set a new ProTour record of 35 maximums.
The St Helens ace began his run with a 6-2 success over Simon Whitlock in Round One before averaging 107.2 in a 6-3 defeat of Maik Kuivenhoven.
He then whitewashed Spain’s Tony Martinez 6-0 before thrashing Gary Anderson 6-1 with a 102.4 average to reach the Quarter-Finals.
There, Chisnall produced a sensational display to defeat top seed Luke Humphries 6-2 with a 114.6 average, before edging out world number two Gerwyn Price 7-6 in the Semi-Finals with the aid of nine 180s.
Chisnall began the final in dominant fashion, racing into a 6-1 lead with a 140 checkout along the way, before in-form Rock rallied with three consecutive legs, including a 122 checkout, to reduce the deficit.
The 21-year-old, however, missed a chance to close the gap further in leg 11, allowing Chisnall to make it 7-4, before sealing victory on double 16 in the following leg.
“Today’s been a very good day for me,” said Chisnall. “The treble 20s were going in like there was no tomorrow, I was hitting 180s for fun all day and I’m very happy. I’ve hit big scores, three or four crucial 140 checkouts, and it’s got me through.”
“My goal is to get back into the Premier League but it’s just consistency. If you don’t get that consistency, you’re not going to win these tournaments.
“I’ve always said that to win tournaments you need luck – to be fair today I don’t think I’ve had any luck, I’ve just battered the people who I played! I can win them all if I play like that.”
Northern Ireland’s Rock enjoyed a remarkable run to his first senior PDC final, having racked up five Development Tour titles this season.
The World Youth finalist underlined himself as one of the sport’s hottest prospects as he registered five ton-plus averages during the day, including a 110 in defeating Dirk van Duijvenbode in Round Three, a 112.6 in his Quarter-Final win over Mike De Decker and a 108.7 in a Semi-Final success over Damon Heta.
Heta had been bidding for back-to-back titles following his Gibraltar Trophy triumph on Sunday, and averaged above 100 in all but one of his six games on the day.
Dutch youngster Gian van Veen enjoyed a superb run to the Quarter-Finals in only his fourth ProTour outing, defeating the likes of Martin Lukeman and Joe Cullen along the way.
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Players Championship 25 Results
Thursday October 20
First Round
Luke Humphries 6-4 Devon Petersen
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Jim Williams 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Jason Lowe 6-4 Ian White
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Keane Barry
George Killington 6-5 James Wilson
Keegan Brown 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Jack Main
Rowby Rodriguez 6-1 John Michael
Tony Martinez 6-3 Stu Wilson
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Ryan Searle
Gary Anderson 6-1 John Henderson
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Kenny Neyens
Jules van Dongen 6-2 Kevin Doets
Michael Smith 6-0 Ryan Joyce
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Shaun Wilkinson
James Wade 6-3 Richie Burnett
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Jamie Hughes
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Glen Durrant
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Cameron Menzies
William Borland 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Danny Jansen
Peter Wright 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Stephen Burton 6-5 Jose Justicia
Wesley Plaisier 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Steve West 6-3 Peter Hudson
Alan Soutar 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Mervyn King 6-3 Eddie Lovely
Nick Fullwell 6-2 Madars Razma
Nathan Rafferty 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Mike De Decker 6-4 Rob Cross
Lewy Williams 6-4 Rusty Rodriguez
Scott Williams 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Max Hopp
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Andy Boulton
Jake Jones 6-5 Bradley Brooks
Danny Baggish 6-4 Chris Dobey
Scott Waites 6-2 Geert De Vos
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Joe Murnan
Dan Read 6-5 Scott Marsh
Josh Rock 6-0 Ritchie Edhouse
Darren Webster 6-1 Danny van Trijp
Danny Noppert 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Damian Mol 6-4 Luc Peters
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Brian Raman
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-2 Radek Szaganski
Damon Heta 6-4 Berry van Peer
William O’Connor 6-3 Jeff Smith
Ricky Evans 6-5 Christian Kist
John O’Shea 6-2 Jason Heaver
Martin Schindler 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Matt Campbell 6-4 David Evans
Ross Montgomery 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Geert Nentjes 6-2 Adam Hunt
Joe Cullen 6-3 Connor Scutt
Ted Evetts 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Ross Smith 6-1 Steve Lennon
Florian Hempel 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Kevin Burness
Jim McEwan 6-2 Steve Beaton
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Brett Claydon
Gian van Veen 6-4 Jamie Clark
Second Round
Luke Humphries 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jim Williams 6-3 Jason Lowe
George Killington 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Keegan Brown 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Tony Martinez 6-5 Rowby Rodriguez
Gary Anderson 6-2 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jules van Dongen 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Michael Smith 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 James Wade
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Mickey Mansell
William Borland 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Peter Wright 6-2 Stephen Burton
Steve West 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Mervyn King 6-5 Alan Soutar
Nathan Rafferty 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Mike De Decker 6-3 Lewy Williams
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Scott Williams
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Jake Jones
Danny Baggish 6-5 Scott Waites
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Dan Read
Josh Rock 6-4 Darren Webster
Danny Noppert 6-5 Damian Mol
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Damon Heta 6-4 William O’Connor
John O’Shea 6-1 Ricky Evans
Martin Schindler 6-0 Matt Campbell
Geert Nentjes 6-4 Ross Montgomery
Joe Cullen 6-3 Ted Evetts
Ross Smith 6-4 Florian Hempel
Jim McEwan 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Gian van Veen 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Losers: £750
Last 32
Luke Humphries 6-2 Jim Williams
George Killington 6-4 Keegan Brown
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Tony Martinez
Gary Anderson 6-5 Jules van Dongen
Michael Smith 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-3 William Borland
Peter Wright 6-3 Steve West
Mervyn King 6-1 Nathan Rafferty
Mike De Decker 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Danny Baggish
Josh Rock 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Danny Noppert
Damon Heta 6-2 John O’Shea
Geert Nentjes 6-5 Martin Schindler
Joe Cullen 6-5 Ross Smith
Gian van Veen 6-4 Jim McEwan
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Luke Humphries 6-5 George Killington
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Gary Anderson
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Michael Smith
Mervyn King 6-5 Peter Wright
Mike De Decker 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Josh Rock 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Damon Heta 6-2 Geert Nentjes
Gian van Veen 6-5 Joe Cullen
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Mervyn King
Josh Rock 6-2 Mike De Decker
Damon Heta 6-1 Gian van Veen
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Dave Chisnall 7-6 Gerwyn Price
Josh Rock 7-3 Damon Heta
Losers: £4,000
Final
Dave Chisnall 8-4 Josh Rock
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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