Chris Dobey coasts to Players Championship 3 title
Chris Dobey coasted to his ninth ProTour title at Players Championship 3 in Wigan with an 8-1 rout of Stephen Bunting in the final.
Dobey, who racked up three Players Championship titles last year, opened his account for 2026 in style at the Robin Park Sports Centre on Monday.
The 35-year-old raced into a five-leg lead in the final, winning four out of the five legs in five visits or less, leaving Bunting with a mountain to climb.
The Premier League star claimed a consolation leg in 14 darts, before Dobey reeled off the final three legs in a row to seal a dominant victory.
“I felt like I played pretty steady all day, and I’m happy to get over the line,” said Dobey, who averaged 95 to Bunting’s 85 in a thoroughly one-sided final.
“Stephen said he felt good before the game, but sometimes it just isn’t your day, and fortunately for me, I came out on the winning end.
“You need luck to win tournaments like this, I was defending this one from two years ago, and on Day One I won it.
“I want to be back in there [Premier League]. I didn’t do enough last year; I want to produce this game on the big stages.”
Having kicked off his campaign with a comfortable opening 6-1 victory over Shane McGuirk, Dobey then saw off Jimmy van Schie and Ryan Joyce 6-4 respectively, averaging 106 against against North East counterpart Joyce.
The Bedlington ace then whitewashed former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks, before denying Darryl Pilgrim in a last-leg thriller to book his place in the semi-finals.
This set up a clash against Tom Bissell, and Dobey duly dominated with a 100.4 average and six 180s in a 7-2 success.
Bunting, meanwhile, registered three ton-plus averages en route to the final, including a 105 in a 6-3 win over Alexander Merkx, after dispatching Carl Sneyd 6-1 in his opener.
The world number seven then edged a last-leg decider against Challenge Tour top-up Derek Coulson to book his place in the Last 16, before seeing off Danny Noppert 6-2 and Jonny Clayton 6-3.
A remarkable comeback in the semi-finals saw Bunting reel off five legs on the spin from 6-2 down to stun James Wade in a last-leg shootout with a 101.8 average.
Elsewhere, Bissell dumped out former major winners Ritchie Edhouse and Rob Cross on his way to the semi-finals, whilst Players Championship Event One winner Wade overcame the likes of Cristo Reyes and Kevin Doets before succumbing at the same stage.
Bissell and Wade were joined in the quarter-finals by former Premier League champion Clayton, along with Doets, Pilgrim and Canadian Jim Long.
Doets registered three consecutive ton-plus averages on his way to the quarter-finals, beating Owen Bates with an average upwards of 113 in the second round.
Long also enjoyed a successful day in Wigan, defeating Premier League star Josh Rock in one of his stand-out performances of the day.
Pilgrim – who had only won one game before today in 2026 – took the scalps of Maik Kuivenhoven, Gian van Veen, Ricardo Pietreckzko and Krzysztof Ratajski before losing to the eventual champion.
Players Championship 3 Results
Monday February 16
First Round
Adam Lipscombe 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Tom Bissell 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Rob Cross 6-5 Benjamin Pratnemer
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Charlie Manby
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Dennie Olde Kalter
Luke Humphries 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Thomas Lovely 6-1 Niall Culleton
Josh Rock 6-5 Nick Kenny
Jim Long 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Rhys Griffin
Andy Boulton 6-5 Filip Bereza
Damon Heta 6-5 Alan Soutar
Karel Sedlacek 6-0 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Madars Razma 6-5 Joe Cullen
Darius Labanauskas 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Tytus Kanik
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Peter Wright
Jack Tweddell 6-4 Marvin van Velzen
Chris Dobey 6-1 Shane McGuirk
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Martijn Dragt 6-1 Cor Dekker
Gian van Veen 6-2 Adam Warner
Darryl Pilgrim 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Adam Paxton
Chris Landman 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Callan Rydz 6-3 James Hurrell
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Arno Merk
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Steve Lennon
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Carl Sneyd
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Derek Coulson 6-4 Yorick Hofkens
Danny Noppert 6-4 Marvin Kraft
Tom Sykes 6-3 Adam Leek
Scott Waites 6-4 William O’Connor
Samuel Price 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Maximilian Czerwinski
Viktor Tingstrom 6-5 Ricky Evans
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-5 Sietse Lap
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Scott Williams
Stephen Rosney 6-1 Pero Ljubic
Rob Owen 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Beau Greaves 6-5 Pascal Rupprecht
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Stephen Burton
Ian White 6-4 Greg Ritchie
Kevin Doets 6-5 Connor Scutt
Owen Bates 6-4 David Sharp
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Kai Gotthardt 6-2 Leon Weber
Niko Springer 6-4 Mervyn King
Max Hopp 6-3 Dominik Gruellich
Lukas Wenig 6-4 Ross Smith
Tyler Thorpe 6-0 Mensur Suljovic
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael Smith 6-3 Keane Barry
James Wade 6-3 Wesley Plaisier
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Joe Hunt 6-3 Mike De Decker
Justin Hood 6-5 Tommy Morris
Second Round
Tom Bissell 6-4 Adam Lipscombe
Rob Cross 6-2 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Ritchie Edhouse 6-0 Luke Woodhouse
Luke Humphries 6-2 Thomas Lovely
Jim Long 6-4 Josh Rock
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Andy Boulton
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Damon Heta
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Madars Razma
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Thibault Tricole
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Jack Tweddell
Ryan Joyce 6-0 Martijn Dragt
Darryl Pilgrim 6-3 Gian van Veen
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Chris Landman
Callan Rydz 6-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Derek Coulson 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Danny Noppert 6-1 Tom Sykes
Scott Waites 6-4 Samuel Price
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Viktor Tingstrom
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Stephen Rosney
Beau Greaves 6-2 Rob Owen
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Ian White
Kevin Doets 6-1 Owen Bates
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Kai Gotthardt
Niko Springer 6-3 Max Hopp
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Tyler Thorpe
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Michael Smith
James Wade 6-3 Richard Veenstra
Joe Hunt 6-4 Justin Hood
Last 32
Tom Bissell 6-4 Rob Cross
Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Luke Humphries
Jim Long 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Chris Dobey 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Darryl Pilgrim 6-0 Ricardo Pietreczko
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Callan Rydz
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Derek Coulson
Danny Noppert 6-3 Scott Waites
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Beau Greaves 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Kevin Doets 6-2 Wessel Nijman
Niko Springer 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Lukas Wenig
James Wade 6-5 Joe Hunt
Last 16
Tom Bissell 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Jim Long 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Chris Dobey 6-0 Bradley Brooks
Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Danny Noppert
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Beau Greaves
Kevin Doets 6-3 Niko Springer
James Wade 6-5 Cristo Reyes
Quarter-Finals
Tom Bissell 6-4 Jim Long
Chris Dobey 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Jonny Clayton
James Wade 6-4 Kevin Doets
Semi-Finals
Chris Dobey 7-2 Tom Bissell
Stephen Bunting 7-6 James Wade
Final
Chris Dobey 8-1 Stephen Bunting
