Ryan Joyce denies Gerwyn Price to scoop second Players Championship title
Ryan Joyce ended a three-year wait for a second PDC ranking title with a dramatic deciding-leg win over Gerwyn Price in the final of Players Championship 26.
Joyce, whose maiden triumph came in July 2020, battled back from 6-4 down to deny Price with a 107 checkout in the deciding leg at the Barnsley Metrodome.
Joyce, appearing in his third ProTour final of the year, looked set to be edged out by the irrepressible Welshman, only to launch a terrific late fightback.
Price seized the early initiative with back-to-back 14-darters, and a sublime 11-dart hold in leg four saw him restore his two-leg cushion.
Joyce responded with a 12-darter and also piled in a 131 checkout in leg seven, but he was unable to make inroads on the Price throw, as the Premier League runner-up stretched his lead to 6-4.
Joyce, however, turned the contest on its head during a crucial three-leg spell to move to the brink of victory at 7-6.
The 2021 World Champion hit back with a 110 finish to force a decider, but Joyce was undeterred, replying with a 107 checkout to secure the £12,000 title.
“I played really well today,” reflected Joyce. “This is one of the best days of my career. It’s up there with the one [title] I won a few years back, and hopefully I can build on this now.”
Joyce, who now moves back inside the world’s top 40, attributes a change in lifestyle and some advice from Masters champion Chris Dobey as the catalysts for his revival over recent months.
“I’ve been trying to eat more healthily and lose a little bit of weight,” added the former World Championship quarter-finalist.
“I’ve lost a couple of stone since June and it does make you feel better, it gives you the energy to practice more.
“I also have to give credit to Chris Dobey. I felt like I was struggling with my scoring a few months ago, and he really helped me.
“I cannot underestimate the power of that five-minute lesson with Chris. It was the turning point for me.”
Joyce kicked off Thursday’s campaign with a 6-3 win over fellow North East star Callan Rydz, before averaging almost 106 in a deciding-leg defeat of Alan Soutar.
The 38-year-old continued his charge with comeback wins over Daniel Klose, Mervyn King and Jose de Sousa, rallying from 5-3 down to deny the Portuguese in a dramatic Quarter-Final.
Joyce then prevailed in a high-quality Semi-Final against Ritchie Edhouse, recording winning legs of 12, 12, 14, 14, 13, 14 and 11 darts to triumph 7-4 with a 105 average.
Price, meanwhile, was bidding to become the first player to win four Players Championship titles this year, and opened his challenge with a hard-fought 6-4 victory over Graham Usher.
After whitewashing Ross Montgomery in Round Two, Price powered through to the Last Eight with 6-1 routs of Mario Vandenbogaerde and Chris Landman – averaging 106 and 103 in the process.
The Welshman then reeled off straight legs to deny Chris Dobey in the Quarter-Finals, before prevailing in an epic Semi-Final against Luke Humphries – a repeat of the recent World Grand Prix final in which the Englishman had taken the title.
Humphries fired in a magnificent 139 checkout to force a last-leg shoot-out, only for Price to conjure up his third 11-dart leg of the contest to progress with an average of 105.
Humphries had defeated Wednesday’s winner Gary Anderson in the Quarter-Finals, averaging 105 to halt the Scot’s 18-match winning run on the ProTour.
Humphries was joined in the semis by an impressive Edhouse, who claimed the scalps of former World Cup winner Damon Heta, UK Open champion Andrew Gilding and two-time World Champion Peter Wright.
Wright boosted his hopes of Players Championship Finals qualification by reaching the Last Eight alongside his World Cup partner Anderson.
Dobey won the stand-out game of the day in Barnsley, defying a staggering 111.83 average from Rob Cross to triumph with a 107 average of his own in a breath-taking Third Round contest.
Players Championship 26 Results
Thursday October 19
First Round
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Callan Rydz
Alan Soutar 6-5 Callum Goffin
Daniel Klose 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Nick Kenny 6-5 Madars Razma
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Martin Schindler
William O’Connor 6-2 Shaun Wilkinson
Ryan Searle 6-1 Niels Zonneveld
Mervyn King 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Keane Barry 6-4 Scott Waites
Arron Monk 6-4 Danny Noppert
Andy Boulton 6-1 Martin Lukeman
Jose De Sousa 6-4 Jose Justicia
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-2 James Wilson
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Michael Smith
Jim Williams 6-4 Geert Nentjes
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Jules van Dongen 6-3 Berry van Peer
Damon Heta 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Owen Bates
Ricky Evans 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Danny Jansen
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Ted Evetts
Nathan Rafferty 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Josh Rock 6-4 Martijn Kleermaker
Vladimir Andersen 6-3 Jamie Clark
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Jimmy Hendriks
Jamie Hughes 6-0 Keegan Brown
Peter Wright 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Robbie Knops
Gian van Veen 6-1 Brian Raman
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 Boris Krcmar
Luke Humphries 6-2 Tony Martinez
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Graham Hall
Ross Smith 6-0 Joe Murnan
Stephen Burton 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Matt Campbell 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Florian Hempel 6-3 Richie Burnett
Scott Williams 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Ian White 6-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Steve Beaton
Lee Evans 6-3 Devon Petersen
Darius Labanauskas 6-1 Mike De Decker
Josh Payne 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
John O’Shea 6-4 Jacques Labre
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Connor Scutt
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Jurjen van der Velde
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Graham Usher
Ross Montgomery 6-5 Darren Webster
James Wade 6-4 Owen Roelofs
Nick Fullwell 6-5 Christian Kist
Jeff Smith 6-3 Joe Cullen
Chris Landman 6-3 Cam Crabtree
Chris Dobey 6-1 Adam Warner
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 George Killington
Rob Cross 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Steve Lennon
Kevin Doets 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Robert Owen 6-5 Pascal Rupprecht
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Damian Mol
Robert Grundy 6-3 Kevin Burness
Second Round
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Alan Soutar
Daniel Klose 6-3 Nick Kenny
William O’Connor 6-0 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Mervyn King 6-3 Ryan Searle
Keane Barry 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Andy Boulton 6-4 Arron Monk
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Jim Williams 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Jules van Dongen
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Damon Heta
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Ricky Evans
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Josh Rock 6-2 Vladimir Andersen
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Jamie Hughes
Peter Wright 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Gian van Veen
Luke Humphries 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts
Stephen Burton 6-3 Ross Smith
Matt Campbell 6-3 Florian Hempel
Ian White 6-3 Scott Williams
Lee Evans 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Darius Labanauskas 6-1 Josh Payne
Gary Anderson 6-4 John O’Shea
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Ross Montgomery
James Wade 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Chris Landman 6-1 Jeff Smith
Chris Dobey 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Rob Cross 6-0 Kim Huybrechts
Kevin Doets 6-3 Robert Owen
Robert Grundy 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Losers: £750
Last 32
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Daniel Klose
Mervyn King 6-5 William O’Connor
Keane Barry 6-5 Andy Boulton
Jose De Sousa 6-4 Jim Williams
Ritchie Edhouse 6-1 Cameron Menzies
Andrew Gilding 6-1 Stephen Bunting
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Josh Rock
Peter Wright 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Luke Humphries 6-1 Mensur Suljovic
Matt Campbell 6-4 Stephen Burton
Lee Evans 6-5 Ian White
Gary Anderson 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Chris Landman 6-4 James Wade
Chris Dobey 6-4 Rob Cross
Robert Grundy 6-4 Kevin Doets
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Mervyn King
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Keane Barry
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Peter Wright 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Luke Humphries 6-3 Matt Campbell
Gary Anderson 6-3 Lee Evans
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Chris Landman
Chris Dobey 6-2 Robert Grundy
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Peter Wright
Luke Humphries 6-2 Gary Anderson
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Chris Dobey
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Ryan Joyce 7-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Gerwyn Price 7-6 Luke Humphries
Losers: £4,000
Final
Ryan Joyce 8-7 Gerwyn Price
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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