Cameron Menzies clinches second ProTour title at Players Championship 11

Cameron Menzies secured his second PDC ranking title at Players Championship 11 with an 8-3 victory over Peter Wright in the final in Leicester on Tuesday.

Menzies, whose maiden ranking title came at the Mattioli Arena last October, doubled his tally at the same venue thanks to a series of commanding wins.

The maverick Scotsman preserved his best performance of the day for the final, averaging 107.2 in an emphatic display to prolong Wright’s ProTour title drought.

“This means a lot to me because it proves the title I won last year wasn’t by luck,” said Menzies.

“I know how well I’ve been playing and I wouldn’t have been disheartened if I hadn’t won another title because my two previous years on tour have been nowhere near this standard.

“I’m leaving my job soon to take up darts full-time; I’m not as good as I’d like to be yet, but I’m heading in the right direction.”

Menzies began the day with 6-3 wins over Viktor Tingstrom, Connor Scutt, before averaging 101 in a 6-4 success over Steve Lennon.

He then overcame Max Hopp by the same scoreline in the Last 16 before brushing aside Matthew Dennant 6-2 and thrashing Niels Zonneveld 7-2 to book his place in the final.

It was Wright who drew first blood in the decider, but only for Menzies to respond with five legs on the spin, including a clinical 146 checkout, to take command.

Wright rallied with successive legs in 12 and 14 darts, but only for Menzies to hit back with a hat-trick of 13-darters to clinch the £15,000 top prize.

A resurgent ‘Snakebite’ was bidding for his first ProTour title since February 2022 and pulled off a series of impressive wins en route to the final.

After seeing off James Hurrell and Callan Rydz 6-4 and 6-2 respectively, Wright averaged 101 in a deciding-leg win over Danny Noppert, before overcoming Premier League star Chris Dobey 6-4.

Then then defied eight 180s from an in-form Josh Rock to seal a narrow 6-5 victory, before averaging 105.8 in a high quality 7-5 semi-final win over Gary Anderson.

World Champion Luke Littler suffered a shock First Round exit at the hands of Dylan Slevin, while Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price also crashed out in the opening round at the hands of Maik Kuivenhoven and Robert Owen respectively.

World number one Luke Humphries was denied in a last-leg decider by Brett Claydon in Round Two despite averaging 102.7.

Players Championship 11 Results

Tuesday April 8

First Round
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Dominik Gruellich
Ryan Meikle 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Adam Lipscombe 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Wessel Nijman 6-0 Rhys Griffin
Ricky Evans 6-2 Marvin van Velzen
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Nick Kenny
Alan Soutar 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Ted Evetts 6-4 Gian van Veen
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Jeffrey De Graaf
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Nathan Rafferty 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Ryan Searle 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Leon Weber 6-3 Thomas Lovely
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Haupai Puha
William O’Connor 6-4 Robert Grundy
Luke Humphries 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Brett Claydon 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
Matthew Dennant 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Chris Landman
Rob Owen 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Tavis Dudeney 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Carl Sneyd 6-1 Michael Smith
Adam Warner 6-3 Danny Lauby
Ross Smith 6-1 Keane Barry
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Max Hopp 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
Connor Scutt 6-4 Christian Kist
Tom Bissell 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Steve Lennon 6-4 Tommy Lishman
Dylan Slevin 6-3 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 6-4 George Killington
Berry van Peer 6-4 Kevin Doets
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Cor Dekker
Gary Anderson 6-3 Kevin Burness
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Darryl Pilgrim
James Wade 6-4 Dom Taylor
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Kai Gotthardt
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Stephen Burton 6-4 Adam Hunt
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Andy Baetens
Andy Boulton 6-3 William Borland
Damon Heta 6-0 Benjamin Reus
Lukas Wenig 6-4 Scott Williams
Stefaan Henderyck 6-4 Joe Cullen
Justin Hood 6-2 Stefan Bellmont
Josh Rock 6-0 Matt Campbell
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Thibault Tricole
Madars Razma 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Niko Springer 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Patrick Geeraets 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Jim Williams 6-3 Tom Sykes
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Cam Crabtree 6-5 Maximilian Czerwinski
Chris Dobey 6-1 Scott Campbell
Florian Hempel 6-1 Adam Mould
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Martijn Dragt
Ian White 6-3 Joshua Richardson
Danny Noppert 6-4 Jim Long
Darren Beveridge 6-1 Adam Paxton
Peter Wright 6-4 James Hurrell
Callan Rydz 6-0 Owen Bates

Second Round
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Ricky Evans
Alan Soutar 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Ted Evetts
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Nathan Rafferty
Ryan Searle 6-3 Leon Weber
William O’Connor 6-1 Andrew Gilding
Brett Claydon 6-5 Luke Humphries
Matthew Dennant 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Rob Owen 6-5 Tavis Dudeney
Adam Warner 6-2 Carl Sneyd
Bradley Brooks 6-5 Ross Smith
Max Hopp 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Connor Scutt
Steve Lennon 6-1 Tom Bissell
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Dylan Slevin
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Berry van Peer
Gary Anderson 6-2 Richard Veenstra
James Wade 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Stephen Burton
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Andy Boulton
Damon Heta 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Stefaan Henderyck 6-4 Justin Hood
Josh Rock 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Madars Razma 6-2 Niko Springer
Patrick Geeraets 6-2 Jim Williams
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Chris Dobey 6-2 Florian Hempel
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Ian White
Danny Noppert 6-5 Darren Beveridge
Peter Wright 6-2 Callan Rydz

Last 32
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Alan Soutar
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
William O’Connor 6-5 Ryan Searle
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Brett Claydon
Rob Owen 6-4 Adam Warner
Max Hopp 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Steve Lennon
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Martin Lukeman
Gary Anderson 6-4 James Wade
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Damon Heta 6-3 Stefaan Henderyck
Josh Rock 6-4 Madars Razma
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Patrick Geeraets
Chris Dobey 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Peter Wright 6-5 Danny Noppert

Last 16
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 William O’Connor
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Rob Owen
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Max Hopp
Gary Anderson 6-2 Sebastian Bialecki
Damon Heta 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Josh Rock 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Peter Wright 6-4 Chris Dobey

Quarter-Finals
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Adam Lipscombe
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Gary Anderson 6-2 Damon Heta
Peter Wright 6-5 Josh Rock

Semi-Finals
Cameron Menzies 7-2 Niels Zonneveld
Peter Wright 7-5 Gary Anderson

Final
Cameron Menzies 8-3 Peter Wright