Damon Heta claims Players Championship Five triumph

Damon Heta secured his third PDC title with an 8-6 win over Gary Anderson in the final of Players Championship Five in Barnsley on Saturday.

The Australian ace claimed the Brisbane Masters title in 2019 as well as a ProTour success the following year after joining the PDC circuit full-time.

He added a further Players Championship title, and £12,000 in prize money, with a superb success as he denied Anderson in a high-quality decider at the Barnsley Metrodome.

Anderson had won Thursday’s Premier League night in Nottingham and was in fine form again throughout Players Championship Five.

The two-time World Champion led 2-1 and 4-3 in the final, having landed a 131 checkout in one of two 12-darters, before a mid-game surge from Heta saw him take out 146, 101 and a ten-darter to move 6-4 ahead.

Back-to-back 14-darters saw Anderson level again, but Heta responded with a 12-darter and punished a miss at tops from the Scot in the next two wrap up victory with a 14-darter on double eight, ending the final with a 107.3 average.

Heta had defeated housemate Dimitri Van den Bergh 7-4 in the Semi-Finals and also saw off Danny Jansen, Jimmy Hendriks, Keane Barry, Steve Beaton and Daryl Gurney en route to glory.

“It’s massive for me,” said Heta, who finished eight doubles from 13 attempts in the final and shared ten 180s with Anderson.

“I knew how well Gary was playing, he was playing sensational darts, but I’m accustomed to the scene now and you’ve got to take whatever opportunity you’ve got.

“To win today is massive because I went all last year playing well, I made some finals but not to get a win was a bit disheartening.

“To get a win over another Premier League player is massive for me. I’m always looking up, I’ve still got everything to gain.

“I don’t think I played my best stuff today but I took my chances. I played some decent players that no doubt could win this thing, but I played my own game.”

Anderson looked on course to claim his first Players Championship title since February 2020 after a brilliant run of form on the day.

After averaging 107 in his opening win over Jason Lowe, he then knocked out Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in Round Two for his first win over the Dutchman in a ranking tournament since 2018.

The Scot then averaged 109 to edge out Simon Whitlock in a decider, before averaging 101 in a 6-3 win over Chris Dobey.

He then averaged 113 in a 6-2 Quarter-Final defeat Rob Cross and averaged 104 in a 7-3 Semi-Final success against fellow Premier League star Joe Cullen.

Cullen had landed a nine-darter during his third round win over James Wilson, with emerging star Josh Rock also producing a perfect leg for the first time on the PDC circuit in his memorable First Round defeat of Dave Chisnall.

The Players Championship double-header in Barnsley concludes on Sunday with Players Championship Six, which will see 128 players competing for £100,000 in prize money.

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Players Championship Five Results

Saturday March 19

First Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jason Lowe
Simon Whitlock 6-0 Jack Main
Ian White 6-3 Ted Evetts
Ross Smith 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Jim Williams 6-2 David Evans
Chris Dobey 6-1 Gordon Mathers
Jason Heaver 6-3 Jules van Dongen
Rob Cross 6-5 George Killington
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Berry van Peer
Martin Schindler 6-3 Kevin Doets
Geert Nentjes 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Luke Humphries 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Glen Durrant
Danny Noppert 6-4 Jose Justicia
Steve Lennon 6-5 Richie Burnett
Joe Cullen 6-2 Robert Owen
Lewy Williams 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Madars Razma 6-0 Mensur Suljovic
James Wilson 6-4 Steve West
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Florian Hempel
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Alan Soutar
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Jim McEwan
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Radek Szaganski
William O’Connor 6-4 Michael Smith
Danny Baggish 6-3 Kevin Burness
Shaun Wilkinson 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Lee Evans 6-5 Keegan Brown
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Joe Murnan
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Josh Rock 6-2 Dave Chisnall – *Rock hits a nine-darter*
John O’Shea 6-2 Stephen Burton
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Peter Wright
Jamie Clark 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jeff Smith 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Matt Campbell 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Luc Peters
Connor Scutt 6-5 Devon Petersen
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Max Hopp
Eddie Lovely 6-4 Darius Labanauskas
Ryan Searle 6-2 Geert De Vos
Scott Williams 6-5 John Henderson
Adam Hunt 6-5 Callan Rydz
Steve Beaton 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Damon Heta 6-1 Danny Jansen
Jimmy Hendriks 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Gabriel Clemens 6-0 Steve Haggerty
Keane Barry 6-1 Stu Wilson
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Brett Claydon
Tony Martinez 6-2 Jon Worsley
Mervyn King 6-2 Damian Mol
Adam Gawlas 6-1 William Borland
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Mike De Decker 6-2 Ross Montgomery
James Wade 6-5 Darren Webster
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Jake Jones
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-1 Ron Meulenkamp
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Andy Boulton
Vladimir Andersen 6-5 Scott Waites
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Brian Raman
Ricky Evans 6-3 Peter Hudson

Second Round
Gary Anderson 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Ian White
Jim Williams 6-2 Ross Smith
Chris Dobey 6-3 Jason Heaver
Rob Cross 6-1 Boris Krcmar
Martin Schindler 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Luke Humphries 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Danny Noppert 6-5 Steve Lennon
Joe Cullen 6-5 Lewy Williams
James Wilson 6-3 Madars Razma
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Jamie Hughes
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Cameron Menzies
William O’Connor 6-4 Danny Baggish
Shaun Wilkinson 6-2 Lee Evans
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
John O’Shea 6-5 Josh Rock
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Jamie Clark
Matt Campbell 6-2 Jeff Smith
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Connor Scutt
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Eddie Lovely
Scott Williams 6-5 Ryan Searle
Steve Beaton 6-2 Adam Hunt
Damon Heta 6-1 Jimmy Hendriks
Keane Barry 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Tony Martinez 6-4 Jose de Sousa
Mervyn King 6-0 Adam Gawlas
Mike De Decker 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 James Wade
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Vladimir Andersen
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Ricky Evans 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Losers: £750

Last 32
Gary Anderson 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Chris Dobey 6-5 Jim Williams
Rob Cross 6-2 Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries 6-3 Danny Noppert
Joe Cullen 6-4 James Wilson – *Cullen hits a nine-darter*
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Shaun Wilkinson 6-0 William O’Connor
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 John O’Shea
Matt Campbell 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Steve Beaton 6-4 Scott Williams
Damon Heta 6-4 Keane Barry
Mervyn King 6-5 Tony Martinez
Mike De Decker 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-1 Ricky Evans
Losers: £1,250

Last 16
Gary Anderson 6-3 Chris Dobey
Rob Cross 6-4 Luke Humphries
Joe Cullen 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Shaun Wilkinson
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Matt Campbell
Damon Heta 6-3 Steve Beaton
Mike De Decker 6-1 Mervyn King
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Losers: £2,000

Quarter-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-2 Rob Cross
Joe Cullen 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Damon Heta 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Mike De Decker
Losers: £3,000

Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 7-3 Joe Cullen
Damon Heta 7-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Losers: £4,000

Final
Damon Heta 8-6 Gary Anderson
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000