Red hot Damon Heta secures further glory at Players Championship 26
Damon Heta continued his prolific spell of form by picking up the Players Championship 26 title in Barnsley on Friday with victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode in the final.
Five days on from his Gibraltar Trophy triumph, Heta made it 16 wins from his last 17 games as he scooped the £12,000 top prize at the Barnsley Metrodome.
The World Cup of Darts winner registered five ton-plus averages in his seven matches en route to the title, defeating three top 16 stars along the way.
Having reached the Semi-Finals of Players Championship 25 on Thursday, Heta began his charge with a whitewash win over Niels Zonneveld, before edging out Northern Ireland’s Kevin Burness 6-4.
He then averaged 106 in a 6-1 rout of James Wade with a 140 checkout to seal the deal, before replicating that scoreline against Greece’s John Michael in the Last 16.
A 104.7 average followed as ‘The Heat’ overcame Canada’s Matt Campbell 6-3, before reeling off six consecutive legs to stun world number two Gerwyn Price 7-3 in the Semi-Finals with a 103 average.
It was Van Duijvenbode who started the final the stronger of the two, opening up leads of 2-0 and 4-2, but only for Heta to hit back with an emphatic six unanswered legs to follow up March’s Players Championship 5 success with another title at the same venue.
“I’m real stoked,” said Heta. “I’m really happy with the way I’ve played in the last couple of days. I just feel really comfortable.
“Today was always about I composed myself. It was always about how I play, what I can do and taking my chances and that’s something I’ve learned.
“I think over these last few months I’ve really learned a lot, and hopefully this is the norm and I keep doing great things.”
Van Duijvenbode had been bidding for his third ProTour title of the campaign, having defeated Scott Marsh, Luke Woodhouse, Gian van Veen, Danny Noppert, Damian Mol, and Boris Krcmar en route to the final.
Price was denied at the Semi-Final stage for the second successive day, while Croatia’s Krcmar also enjoyed a fine run to the Last Four which included wins over Stephen Bunting, Jeff Smith and Alan Soutar.
Jonny Clayton landed a nine-dart finish during his First Round win over Ryan Meikle, while Thursday’s champion Dave Chisnall fell at the first hurdle against Belgium’s Geert de Vos.
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Players Championship 26 Results
Friday October 21
First Round
Luke Humphries 6-1 Devon Petersen
Gary Anderson 6-0 Max Hopp
Scott Williams 6-3 Rusty Rodriguez
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Ian White
Damian Mol 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Andy Boulton 6-1 Glen Durrant
Scott Waites 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Steve Lennon 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Scott Marsh
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Brett Claydon
Gian van Veen 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Martijn Kleermaker 6-5 Steve Beaton
Danny Noppert 6-5 Jason Heaver
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Steve West
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Madars Razma
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Jack Main
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Rob Cross
Danny van Trijp 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Kevin Doets 6-4 Ross Smith
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Jose de Sousa
Mike De Decker 6-5 Florian Hempel
Alan Soutar 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Tony Martinez 6-5 Jim McEwan
Jeff Smith 6-5 Peter Wright
Jimmy Hendriks 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Brendan Dolan 6-3 John O’Shea
Jamie Hughes 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Ryan Meikle – *Clayton hits a nine-darter*
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Ross Montgomery
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Darren Webster
Boris Krcmar 6-1 Ron Meulenkamp
Damon Heta 6-0 Niels Zonneveld
Kevin Burness 6-4 Ricky Evans
James Wade 6-2 Keegan Brown
Connor Scutt 6-4 Peter Hudson
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Martin Schindler
John Michael 6-4 Ted Evetts
Chris Dobey 6-3 Keane Barry
George Killington 6-3 Wesley Plaisier
Geert De Vos 6-4 Dave Chisnall
William O’Connor 6-3 Jose Justicia
Adam Gawlas 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Matt Campbell 6-2 Danny Jansen
Ryan Searle 6-2 Richie Burnett
Geert Nentjes 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde
Josh Rock 6-1 Kenny Neyens
Joe Murnan 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Michael Smith 6-3 Mervyn King
Stephen Burton 6-5 Nick Fullwell
John Henderson 6-5 Callan Rydz
Nathan Rafferty 6-3 David Evans
Radek Szaganski 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Brian Raman 6-4 Jamie Clark
Berry van Peer 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Scott Mitchell 6-0 Luc Peters
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Joe Cullen
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Jason Lowe
Rowby Rodriguez 6-4 Shaun Wilkinson
Danny Baggish 6-2 Jake Jones
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Christian Kist
William Borland 6-3 Jim Williams
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Adam Hunt
James Wilson 6-4 Eddie Lovely
Second Round
Gary Anderson 6-5 Luke Humphries
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Scott Williams
Damian Mol 6-4 Andy Boulton
Steve Lennon 6-5 Scott Waites
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Gian van Veen 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Danny Noppert 6-1 Mickey Mansell
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Danny van Trijp 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Kevin Doets 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Mike De Decker
Alan Soutar 6-2 Tony Martinez
Jeff Smith 6-0 Jimmy Hendriks
Jamie Hughes 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Boris Krcmar 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Damon Heta 6-4 Kevin Burness
James Wade 6-3 Connor Scutt
John Michael 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Chris Dobey 6-3 George Killington
William O’Connor 6-5 Geert De Vos
Matt Campbell 6-1 Adam Gawlas
Geert Nentjes 6-5 Ryan Searle
Josh Rock 6-0 Joe Murnan
Michael Smith 6-5 Stephen Burton
Nathan Rafferty 6-3 John Henderson
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Brian Raman
Berry van Peer 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Danny Baggish 6-5 Rowby Rodriguez
Gerwyn Price 6-5 William Borland
James Wilson 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Losers: £750
Last 32
Gary Anderson 6-1 Jules van Dongen
Damian Mol 6-4 Steve Lennon
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Gian van Veen
Danny Noppert 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Kevin Doets 6-2 Danny van Trijp
Alan Soutar 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jeff Smith 6-4 Jamie Hughes
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Damon Heta 6-1 James Wade
John Michael 6-4 Chris Dobey
Matt Campbell 6-0 William O’Connor
Josh Rock 6-0 Geert Nentjes
Michael Smith 6-2 Nathan Rafferty
Berry van Peer 6-3 Radek Szaganski
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Danny Baggish
Gerwyn Price 6-3 James Wilson
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Damian Mol 6-3 Gary Anderson
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Danny Noppert
Alan Soutar 6-4 Kevin Doets
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Jeff Smith
Damon Heta 6-1 John Michael
Matt Campbell 6-5 Josh Rock
Michael Smith 6-4 Berry van Peer
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Damian Mol
Boris Krcmar 6-1 Alan Soutar
Damon Heta 6-3 Matt Campbell
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Michael Smith
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-2 Boris Krcmar
Damon Heta 7-3 Gerwyn Price
Losers: £4,000
Finals
Damon Heta 8-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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