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Players Championship 2023 Event 22 | Draw and Latest Results

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Players Championship 2023 Event 23 | Draw and Latest Results

Danny Noppert doubles title tally for 2023 at Players Championship 22

Jamie Shaw in Players Championship 27 Sep 2023
Danny Noppert reacts (Photo by Kelly Deckers/PDC Europe)

Danny Noppert secured his second ranking title of the year at Players Championship 22 with a narrow 8-7 victory over Christian Kist in the final in Barnsley on Wednesday.

Noppert, who won the second Players Championship event of the year back in February, denied Dutch compatriot Kist a maiden PDC ranking title in a tense last-leg battle.

The former UK Open champion overturned a 6-4 deficit to claim the £12,000 winner’s prize at the Barnsley Metrodome, firing in a magnificent 11-darter to complete the comeback.

The opening five legs of the final went with throw, though Noppert landed the first decisive blow in leg six, landing a 121 checkout on the bull to stretch his lead to 4-2.

Kist turned the tide and then produced a brilliant bullseye finish of his own in leg ten – winning his fourth consecutive leg with a 122 checkout to move two legs away from a memorable triumph.

Noppert, though, hit back with a three-leg burst of his own to regain the upper-hand at 7-6, but former Lakeside Champion Kist was handed a reprieve in leg 14 when Noppert missed three darts for the title.

Kist capitalised to set up an nail-biting decider, but Noppert got over the line in style, following up his fourth maximum with an 11-dart hold on tops to prevail.

“I am so relieved to get over the line. What a day it was,” reflected Noppert.

“It was really tough against Christian. His scoring was better than mine, so I had to fight for this game.

“These events are really hard. There are so many good players and I won, so that makes me really proud.”

Noppert will take on 2020 champion Gerwyn Price in Round One of the BoyleSports World Grand Prix next week, and this victory provides him with a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the double-start showpiece.

“Gerwyn is such a good player,” he added. “It’s a really tough draw and I need to play my A-game, but now I’ve won this tournament, it gives me a good feeling.

“I just want to perform well. I see every game step-by-step, and hopefully I will do well at the World Grand Prix, so I can make some steps towards the world’s top eight.”

The Dutch number two defeated three televised title winners en route to glory, following up a First Round whitewash of Alan Soutar by averaging 101 to see off a spirited Lee Evans.

Noppert then accounted for Masters champion Chris Dobey to reach the Last 16 – where he fought back from 3-0 and 5-3 down to deny Steve Lennon in a contest which saw both players average 103.

The world number nine continued his charge with a Quarter-Final win over James Wade, before incredibly thrashing World Champion Michael Smith 7-1 with a 102 average in the Semi-Finals.

Kist also starred on a memorable day of action, scooping the £8,000 runner-up prize to move into the provisional qualification places for the World Championship despite not holding a Tour Card.

The 37-year-old overcame Simon Whitlock and fourth seed Jonny Clayton to kick off his campaign, and backed up those wins with victory over Mickey Mansell.

The 2012 Lakeside Champion defied a 106 average from Stephen Bunting to reach the Last Eight – where he dumped out compatriot Kevin Doets before brushing aside Damon Heta in the Semi-Finals.

Top seed Heta defeated World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall and Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld in his run to the Semi-Finals – where he was joined by world number one Smith.

Smith defied a 109 average from Gary Anderson to win through a remarkable Quarter-Final tie, having also edged out Darius Labanauskas, Callan Rydz and Ian White.

Anderson bowed out with a tournament average of almost 105, having whitewashed Jeffrey de Zwaan and Ricardo Pietreczko with averages of 109 and 107 respectively.

The Scot was joined in the Last Eight by Wade and Van Barneveld – who was appearing in his first Players Championship Quarter-Final since March.

Doets also featured in the Quarter-Final line-up, having registered ton-plus averages in wins over Daryl Gurney and Martin Schindler, which was followed by a superb Last 16 success against Michael van Gerwen.

Earlier in the day, Jeff Smith celebrated the first nine-darter of his PDC career in his First Round win against Ross Montgomery, producing the perfect leg to seal a 6-4 win over the Scot.

The performance of the day belonged to Jim Williams, who averaged 114 in his opening round demolition of Steve Beaton, before succumbing to a resurgent Jules van Dongen in Round Three.

Bunting, a recent European Tour finalist, recorded the highest tournament average of the day, averaging 106, 109 and 111 in wins over Geert Nentjes, John O’Shea and Mike De Decker, before bowing out at the hands of Kist.

Players Championship 22 Results

Wednesday September 27

First Round
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Stephen Burton
Pascal Rupprecht 6-3 George Killington
Damon Heta 6-2 Martin Lukeman
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Tony Martinez 6-2 Jamie Clark
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Darren Webster 6-3 Connor Scutt
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Owen Bates 6-4 Matt Campbell
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Graham Hall
John Henderson 6-1 Adam Smith-Neale
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Robert Owen
William O’Connor 6-5 Brian Raman
Peter Wright 6-1 Joe Murnan
Danny Jansen 6-1 Ritchie Edhouse
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Gian van Veen
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Josh Payne
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Robbie Knops
Christian Kist 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Mike De Decker 6-5 Daniel Klose
Owen Roelofs 6-4 Nick Kenny
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Geert Nentjes
John O’Shea 6-4 Jose Justicia
Jimmy Hendriks 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Scott Williams 6-5 Vladimir Andersen
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Madars Razma
Ryan Meikle 6-1 Graham Usher
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Mervyn King
Kevin Doets 6-3 Keane Barry
Martin Schindler 6-5 Shaun Wilkinson
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Jim Williams 6-1 Steve Beaton
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Lewis Williams
Jules van Dongen 6-1 Keegan Brown
Jose De Sousa 6-4 Damian Mol
Chris Landman 6-4 Adam Warner
James Wade 6-0 Danny van Trijp
Jeff Smith 6-4 Ross Montgomery – *Smith hits a nine-darter*
Chris Dobey 6-4 Andy Boulton
Scott Waites 6-4 Richie Burnett
Danny Noppert 6-0 Alan Soutar
Lee Evans 6-4 Krzysztof Kciuk
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Robert Grundy
Steve Lennon 6-4 Ricky Evans
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Ryan Searle
Callum Goffin 6-1 Jacques Labre
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Dylan Slevin 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Josh Rock
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Arron Monk
Gary Anderson 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Ross Smith 6-5 Ted Evetts
Dom Taylor 6-1 Nick Fullwell
Callan Rydz 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Martijn Kleermaker 6-1 Kevin Burness
Michael Smith 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Darius Labanauskas 6-0 Devon Petersen
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 James Wilson
Ian White 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Joe Cullen
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Florian Hempel

Second Round
Pascal Rupprecht 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Damon Heta 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Tony Martinez
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Darren Webster
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 John Henderson
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 William O’Connor
Peter Wright 6-3 Danny Jansen
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Christian Kist 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Mike De Decker 6-3 Owen Roelofs
Stephen Bunting 6-2 John O’Shea
Scott Williams 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Kevin Doets 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Martin Schindler 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Jim Williams 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Jules van Dongen 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Chris Landman
James Wade 6-3 Jeff Smith
Chris Dobey 6-4 Scott Waites
Danny Noppert 6-4 Lee Evans
Steve Lennon 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Callum Goffin 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Dylan Slevin
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Gary Anderson 6-0 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Dom Taylor 6-3 Ross Smith
Callan Rydz 6-2 Martijn Kleermaker
Michael Smith 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Ian White 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Losers: £750

Last 32
Damon Heta 6-5 Pascal Rupprecht
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Peter Wright
Christian Kist 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Mike De Decker
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Scott Williams
Kevin Doets 6-4 Martin Schindler
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Jim Williams
James Wade 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Danny Noppert 6-4 Chris Dobey
Steve Lennon 6-2 Callum Goffin
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Gary Anderson 6-5 Dom Taylor
Michael Smith 6-4 Callan Rydz
Ian White 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Losers: £1,250

Last 16
Damon Heta 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Christian Kist 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Kevin Doets 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
James Wade 6-5 Jules van Dongen
Danny Noppert 6-5 Steve Lennon
Gary Anderson 6-0 Ricardo Pietreczko
Michael Smith 6-5 Ian White
Losers: £2,000

Quarter-Finals
Damon Heta 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Christian Kist 6-4 Kevin Doets
Danny Noppert 6-4 James Wade
Michael Smith 6-5 Gary Anderson
Losers: £3,000

Semi-Finals
Christian Kist 7-2 Damon Heta
Danny Noppert 7-1 Michael Smith
Losers: £4,000

Final
Danny Noppert 8-7 Christian Kist
Winner: £12,000
Losers: £8,000

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