Damon Heta claims Players Championship Four crown
Damon Heta secured his sixth Players Championship title with victory in the fourth event of 2024 in Leicester on Tuesday.
Heta hit back from 3-0 down to defeat Chris Dobey in a high-quality final, reeling off seven consecutive legs – including four straight 12-darters – en route to an 8-4 triumph.
The Australian number one also fired in four ton-plus finishes to pocket the £15,000 top prize, defying a 106.4 average from Dobey in the process.
Dobey raced to the opening three legs in 12, 16 and 13 darts before Heta opened his account in leg four courtesy of a 13-darter.
Former Masters champion Dobey then paid the price for missing four darts for a 4-1 lead, and his woes were compounded when Heta converted 113, 121 and 130 checkouts in successive legs to move 5-3 ahead.
The 36-year-old continued his finishing clinic with a brilliant double-double 92 checkout on the 18s, and Dobey could only laugh in disbelief when Heta fired in a brilliant 121 on the bull to move 7-3 up.
Dobey delivered a bullseye finish of his own to keep his slender hopes alive in leg 11, but Heta wrapped up proceedings moments later, pinning double four to clinch his seventh PDC ranking title.
“I really battled today,” reflected Heta, who averaged 103.4 to become the fourth different winner in as many Players Championship events this year.
“I had no consistency in my game today until that final, where I went: ‘Do you know what, you’ve done everything well today, just relax, trebles should be flowing, don’t try so hard, it should just happen.’
“I was really confident. I felt a relief off my shoulders before going for those big checkouts, and it just happened, so happy days!”
Heta reached three televised ranking quarter-finals in 2023 and is confident of making further progress over the next 12 months as he bids to establish himself in the world’s top ten.
“I’ve already set my goals [for 2024]. I have them written down, but I don’t want to say too much,” added the former World Cup of Darts winner.
“I have been playing pretty well, and I’m bringing that form to the bigger stages now, so I feel really good.
“I’m putting in a lot of hard work behind the scenes, and I’ve got to believe that and trust that.
“I’m fully focused. I have big goals and I’m doing everything right to try and achieve them, so hopefully it all pans out.”
Heta defeated Aden Kirk, Oskar Lukasiak and Luke Woodhouse to advance to the Last 16 – where he registered a ton-plus average on his way to a 6-1 demolition of Jim Williams.
He then accounted for Brendan Dolan in the quarter-finals, before demolishing Christian Perez 7-2 in the semi-finals, claiming seven of the last eight legs.
Dobey had recovered from 4-3 down to claim a deciding-leg win over Darryl Pilgrim in his opener, before sweeping aside Callan Rydz with a ton-topping average in a battle of the Bedlington darters.
The 33-year-old continued his charge with an emphatic 6-0 whitewash of Michael van Gerwen, before overcoming Niels Zonneveld and a resurgent Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Dobey then held his nerve to edge out Peter Wright 7-6 in a hard-fought semi-final showdown, producing a nerveless dart at double ten to win through a last-leg shoot-out.
Wright continued his resurgent run with a second semi-final appearance on the ProTour in 2024, breezing past top seed Dave Chisnall before nailing a 114 finish to deny Scott Williams in the Last Eight.
Perez, meanwhile, made history with his run to the last four, claiming a host of major scalps to become the first Filipino to progress to the semi-finals of a Players Championship event.
The former PDC Asian Champion overcame German duo Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko, and dumped out former World Champions Gerwyn Price and Raymond van Barneveld along the way.
Van Barneveld progressed to his second ProTour quarter-final in the space of three events to continue his strong start to 2024, where he was joined by his compatriot Van Duijvenbode.
Van Duijvenbode averaged 105 and 106 in wins over Daniel Klose and Gian van Veen respectively, as he advanced to his first ranking quarter-final since September.
Dolan produced a trio of 102 averages in reaching the Last Eight, defying a 109 average from Players Championship Three winner Ryan Searle in an astonishing Last 16 clash.
World Championship semi-finalist Williams made up the quarter-final line-up in Leicester, fending off a 105 average from Gary Anderson in round one, before edging out Jonny Clayton in the Last 16.
Meanwhile, Luke Littler bowed out in the First Round for the first time in four ProTour events so far, losing 6-5 to James Wade.
The likes of Stephen Bunting, Rob Cross, Josh Rock and Ross Smith also suffered First Round exits.
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Players Championship Four Results
Tuesday February 20
First Round
Nathan Rafferty 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Haupai Puha 6-3 Patrick Geeraets
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Arron Monk
Pascal Rupprecht 6-3 Ricky Evans
Jitse Van der Wal 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Stephen Burton 6-3 Geert Nentjes
Peter Wright 6-5 Leighton Bennett
Nick Kenny 6-2 Callum Goffin
James Wade 6-5 Luke Littler
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Thibault Tricole
Scott Williams 6-4 Gary Anderson
Robert Owen 6-4 William Borland
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Vincent van der Voort
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Richie Burnett
Jamie Hughes 6-0 Danny Jansen
Steve Lennon 6-4 Mike De Decker
Madars Razma 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Daniel Klose 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Gian van Veen 6-1 Jeffrey De Graaf
Matthew Dennant 6-5 Graham Usher
Mervyn King 6-5 Ross Smith
Mickey Mansell 6-0 Robbie Knops
Chris Dobey 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Callan Rydz 6-2 James Hurrell
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Dom Taylor
Graham Hall 6-2 Keane Barry
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Lee Evans 6-5 Brett Claydon
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Danny Noppert
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-1 Radek Szaganski
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Steve Beaton
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Rhys Griffin 6-5 George Killington
Martin Schindler 6-2 Keegan Brown
Christian Perez 6-5 Danny Lauby
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Dylan Slevin
Danny van Trijp 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Adam Smith-Neale 6-5 William O’Connor
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Rob Cross
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Robert Grundy
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Darren Beveridge
Florian Hempel 6-5 Owen Roelofs
Michael Smith 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Andy Baetens 6-5 Adam Hunt
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Jacques Labre
Lukas Wenig 6-2 Boris Krcmar
Damon Heta 6-3 Aden Kirk
Oskar Lukasiak 6-5 Ian White
Jim Williams 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-1 Matt Campbell
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Adam Warner
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Martijn Dragt
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Joshua Richardson
Alan Soutar 6-5 Owen Bates
Berry van Peer 6-4 Josh Rock
Ronny Huybrechts 6-4 Kevin Doets
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Paul Krohne 6-4 Jules van Dongen
Ryan Searle 6-3 Josh Payne
Chris Landman 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
Second Round
Haupai Puha 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Pascal Rupprecht
Stephen Burton 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal
Peter Wright 6-3 Nick Kenny
Adam Gawlas 6-4 James Wade
Scott Williams 6-5 Robert Owen
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Steve Lennon 6-4 Madars Razma
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Daniel Klose
Gian van Veen 6-1 Matthew Dennant
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Mervyn King
Chris Dobey 6-1 Callan Rydz
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Graham Hall
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Lee Evans
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Christian Perez 6-3 Martin Schindler
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Danny van Trijp
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Florian Hempel 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Michael Smith 6-3 Andy Baetens
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Damon Heta 6-4 Oskar Lukasiak
Jim Williams 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Alan Soutar
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Berry van Peer
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-2 Paul Krohne
Ryan Searle 6-4 Chris Landman
Last 32
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Haupai Puha
Peter Wright 6-2 Stephen Burton
Scott Williams 6-1 Adam Gawlas
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Steve Lennon
Gian van Veen 6-1 Mickey Mansell
Chris Dobey 6-0 Michael van Gerwen
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Christian Perez 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Florian Hempel 6-4 Michael Smith
Damon Heta 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Jim Williams 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts
Ryan Searle 6-1 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Last 16
Peter Wright 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Scott Williams 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Gian van Veen
Chris Dobey 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Christian Perez 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Florian Hempel
Damon Heta 6-1 Jim Williams
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Ryan Searle
Quarter-Finals
Peter Wright 6-5 Scott Williams
Chris Dobey 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Christian Perez 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Damon Heta 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Semi-Finals
Chris Dobey 7-6 Peter Wright
Damon Heta 7-2 Christian Perez
Final
Damon Heta 8-4 Chris Dobey
Prize Fund
Winner: £15,000
Runner-up: £10,000
Semi-Final losers: £5,000
Quarter-Final losers: £3,500
Last 16 losers: £2,500
Last 32 losers: £1,500
Second Round losers: £1,000
First Round losers: £0
