Chris Dobey clinches Players Championship 3 crown
Chris Dobey claimed Players Championship 3 glory in Rosmalen with an 8-4 victory over Jelle Klaasen in the final on Monday.
Following wins for Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price in last week’s double-header, Dobey became the latest BetMGM Premier League star to triumph on the ProTour this season.
The former Masters champion finished runner-up to Price in Event Two last Tuesday, but returned to winning ways by denying a resurgent Klaasen.
Dobey made a superb start to the final, producing legs of 11 and 13 darts to move 2-0 up, before Klaasen found his range to reduce the deficit to 4-3.
However, after the former Lakeside Champion wired tops for a 113 finish to restore parity, Dobey followed up a crucial hold in leg eight with a 110 checkout to establish clear daylight at 6-3.
Klaasen preserved his slender hopes with a 112 checkout in leg 11, but Dobey thwarted any hopes of a fightback by following up his second maximum with an 80 finish on tops to wrap up victory.
The victory marks Dobey’s sixth Players Championship title and moves him into the world’s top eight in the process.
“This was massive for me,” insisted Dobey, who claimed a hat-trick of titles last year to finish top of the 2024 Players Championship Order of Merit.
“I probably should have won the final against Gezzy last week, but I came back today, battled hard and it’s another point proven.
“I was crying out for this form on the ProTour a couple of years ago.
“If I can take this form on to the big stage, then who knows? I could be winning these major titles.
“You have to take your opportunities and make it count. I just love playing darts and I want to keep winning titles now.”
Dobey had opened his bid with comfortable wins over Dylan Slevin and Rob Owen, before kicking into gear with a 107.4 average in a ruthless whitewash of Owen Bates.
After overturning a 4-3 deficit to deny Wessel Nijman in the Last 16, he then produced the performance of the day in his quarter-final demolition of Krzysztof Ratajski, averaging 113.5 in a 6-1 thrashing.
This set up an all-Bedlington battle against Callan Rydz, and after landing skin-saving 127 and 120 checkouts, Dobey fired in a nerveless 13-darter to deny his local rival in a decider.
Klaasen, who regained his PDC Tour Card last January, won six consecutive games on home soil to reach his first ProTour final since 2017.
The former Premier League star overcame Ryan Joyce, Kevin Burness and Tytus Kanik to progress to the Last 16 – where he recovered from 5-2 down to edge out Grand Slam semi-finalist Mickey Mansell.
The Dutchman then ran out a 6-4 winner against world number four Rob Cross in the quarter-finals, before putting in his best performance of the day to narrowly deny Nick Kenny in the semi-finals.
Fresh from a breakthrough run at the recent World Championship, Kenny maintained his strong start to 2025 with a run to his first Players Championship semi-final since 2020 – where he was joined by Rydz.
Rydz ace backed up an early win over Greg Ritchie by dumping out four televised title winners in the shape of Ross Smith, Jose de Sousa, James Wade and Gerwyn Price.
Price averaged 112 in a sensational third round victory over Peter Wright, though his hopes were quashed in the quarter-finals alongside Players Championship 1 winner Cross.
Michael van Gerwen’s first ProTour appearance of the season ended in a shock 6-4 defeat to non Tour Card holder Michael Flynn in Round One, while Bahrain Darts Masters winner Stephen Bunting crashed out at the same stage against Patrick Geeraets.
Players Championship 3 Results
Monday February 17
First Round
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jitse Van der Wal
Oskar Lukasiak 6-3 Danny Lauby
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Haupai Puha
Nick Kenny 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Niko Springer 6-4 Pero Ljubic
Florian Hempel 6-4 Mike De Decker
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Jules van Dongen
Ryan Searle 6-3 Marvin van Velzen
William Borland 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Rhys Griffin 6-4 Joe Cullen
Connor Scutt 6-1 Kai Gotthardt
Danny Noppert 6-1 Robert Grundy
Dom Taylor 6-5 Mervyn King
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Martijn Dragt
Max Hopp 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Michael Flynn 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Tytus Kanik 6-2 Dominik Gruellich
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Kevin Burness 6-3 Darren Beveridge
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Bradley Brooks
George Killington 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Jim Long 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Josh Rock 6-1 Brett Claydon
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-5 Ian White
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Darius Labanauskas
Scott Williams 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Rob Cross 6-4 Adam Lipscombe
Joshua Richardson 6-5 Christian Kist
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Alan Soutar
Andy Boulton 6-3 Benjamin Reus
Patrick Geeraets 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Steve Lennon 6-2 Jarno Bottenberg
Justin Hood 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Madars Razma 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Kevin Doets
Tavis Dudeney 6-5 Leon Weber
Peter Wright 6-5 Carl Sneyd
Aden Kirk 6-4 Keane Barry
Ross Smith 6-3 Dennie Olde Kalter
Callan Rydz 6-3 Greg Ritchie
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 William O’Connor
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Adam Paxton
Damon Heta 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Adam Hunt 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
James Wade 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Cor Dekker 6-2 Sebastian Bialecki
Chris Dobey 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Rob Owen 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Thibault Tricole
Owen Bates 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Gian van Veen
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 James Hurrell
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Ricky Evans
Cam Crabtree 6-5 Berry van Peer
Martin Schindler 6-3 Andy Baetens
Tom Bissell 6-4 Matt Campbell
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Thomas Lovely
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Adam Warner
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Stephen Burton 6-4 Michael Smith
Ryan Meikle 6-0 Tim Wolters
Second Round
Oskar Lukasiak 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Nick Kenny 6-1 Niels Zonneveld
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Niko Springer
Martin Lukeman 6-0 Florian Hempel
Ryan Searle 6-3 William Borland
Connor Scutt 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Dom Taylor 6-3 Danny Noppert
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Max Hopp
Tytus Kanik 6-4 Michael Flynn
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Kevin Burness
George Killington 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Mickey Mansell 6-1 Jim Long
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-5 Josh Rock
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Scott Williams
Rob Cross 6-4 Joshua Richardson
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Andy Boulton
Steve Lennon 6-4 Patrick Geeraets
Justin Hood 6-5 Madars Razma
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Tavis Dudeney
Peter Wright 6-1 Aden Kirk
Callan Rydz 6-5 Ross Smith
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Damon Heta 6-4 Adam Hunt
James Wade 6-5 Cor Dekker
Chris Dobey 6-2 Rob Owen
Owen Bates 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Tom Bissell 6-3 Martin Schindler
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Stephen Burton 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Last 32
Nick Kenny 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Ryan Searle 6-2 Connor Scutt
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Dom Taylor
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Mickey Mansell 6-5 George Killington
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Maximilian Czerwinski
Rob Cross 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Justin Hood 6-3 Steve Lennon
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Peter Wright
Callan Rydz 6-2 Jose De Sousa
James Wade 6-2 Damon Heta
Chris Dobey 6-0 Owen Bates
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Tom Bissell
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Stephen Burton
Last 16
Nick Kenny 6-1 Martin Lukeman
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Ryan Searle
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Rob Cross 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Justin Hood
Callan Rydz 6-1 James Wade
Chris Dobey 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Quarter-Finals
Nick Kenny 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Rob Cross
Callan Rydz 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Chris Dobey 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Semi-Finals
Jelle Klaasen 7-5 Nick Kenny
Chris Dobey 7-6 Callan Rydz
Final
Chris Dobey 8-4 Jelle Klaasen
