Ryan Searle seals Players Championship 11 title
Ryan Searle secured his third PDC ranking title at Players Championship 11 in Barnsley with an 8-3 victory over Nathan Aspinall in the final.
Searle, who had claimed a ProTour title in 2020 and 2021, added to his tally in 2022 as he ended a run of four straight defeats in finals.
Searle was pushed all the way in his opening four games, defeating Dutch duo Jimmy Hendriks and Jeffrey de Zwaan in a deciding leg and Alan Soutar and Gordon Mathers by a 6-4 scoreline.
He then whitewashed emerging star Josh Rock in the Quarter-Finals before seeing his Semi-Final tie with Rob Cross go all the way, as an 11-darter moved ‘Heavy Metal’ into the final.
Searle stormed into leads of 3-0 and 5-2 over a resurgent Aspinall, finishing 120 and 103 in the process and also landing an 11-dart leg.
Aspinall, seeking his first ranking title for two years, took out 124 to hit back in leg eight – only to see Searle check out the same finish in the next to restore breathing space before closing out the win.
“It’s really pleasing and I saved my best game for the final,” said Searle.
“It’s a frustrating game! For the last two days I’ve been playing really well and losing out, and today I started really badly but I got there eventually.
“I scraped through a couple of games but got myself together and played alright after that. I was up for that final – I’ve lost four in a row and there was no way I was losing that today.
“I didn’t care what Nathan was going to hit, I was going to beat him. That was the way I felt and I think that’s the way I need to feel more often.
“It is frustrating but I’m pretty laid back and sometimes I’m not up enough for the final – I’m just happy to be there – and I’m trying to change that.
“I want to stay in the top 16 and get even higher. I feel like if I play my game I can beat anyone.”
Aspinall’s run was his best since November, as he continues his return to action following a spell on the sidelines with a wrist problem earlier this year.
The former UK Open champion produced some sublime darts on Sunday, averaging 109.7 in defeating Ryan Joyce, averaging 104 to defeat Jose de Sousa and 105.8 in his 7-5 Semi-Final win over Dave Chisnall.
Chisnall was a semi-finalist for the second time in three events but again fell short in his quest for a first title of the year.
Cross, meanwhile, reached his third ranking Semi-Final inside a month with a run which included four successive ton-plus averages on Sunday.
Northern Irish youngster Rock recorded a memorable 6-4 win over world number two Gerwyn Price in the Last 16 as he reached his second Players Championship Quarter-Final since joining the circuit full-time in January.
Reigning Masters champion Joe Cullen, Vincent van der Voort and Callan Rydz also won through to the Last Eight.
The day also saw Madars Razma achieve a nine-dart finish against Michael Unterbuchner, though the Latvian ace lost the Second Round tie 6-1.
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Players Championship 11 Results
Sunday April 3
First Round
Jim Williams 6-5 Darren Penhall
Ricky Evans 6-4 Ross Montgomery
Brett Claydon 6-1 Adam Hunt
Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Stephen Bunting
John Henderson 6-4 Danny Jansen
Martin Schindler 6-0 George Killington
Josh Rock 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Andy Boulton 6-3 Damon Heta
Gordon Mathers 6-3 Jason Heaver
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Jack Main
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Damian Mol
Ryan Searle 6-5 Jimmy Hendriks
Alan Soutar 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Krzysztof Kciuk
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Jim Moston 6-3 Jeff Smith
Ryan Meikle 6-1 Martijn Kleermaker
Tony Martinez 6-3 Steve Haggerty
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Keane Barry
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Ted Evetts
James Wade 6-3 Geert De Vos
Graham Hall 6-3 Peter Hudson
Rob Cross 6-2 Jules van Dongen
Joe Murnan 6-3 Glen Durrant
Mervyn King 6-5 Luc Peters
Devon Petersen 6-3 Danny Baggish
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Scott Waites
Matt Campbell 6-4 Florian Hempel
Danny Noppert 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Brian Raman
Richie Burnett 6-4 Jon Worsley
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Steve Lennon 6-4 Daryl Gurney
John O’Shea 6-5 Lewy Williams
Steve Beaton 6-2 Chris Dobey
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Michael Smith 6-2 Shaun Wilkinson
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Jason Lowe
Ian White 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Luke Humphries 6-0 William Borland
Vladimir Andersen 6-5 David Evans
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Berry van Peer 6-5 Zoran Lerchbacher
Adam Gawlas 6-1 Boris Krcmar
Madars Razma 6-2 Steve West
Michael Unterbuchner 6-4 Kevin Doets
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Max Hopp
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Ryan Joyce 6-5 William O’Connor
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Mike De Decker
Kevin Burness 6-1 Keegan Brown
Callan Rydz 6-4 Darren Webster
Scott Mitchell 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jose Justicia
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jake Jones 6-5 Ross Smith
Eddie Lovely 6-3 John Michael
Second Round
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Jim Williams
Ricky Evans 6-2 Brett Claydon
Ron Meulenkamp 6-4 John Henderson
Josh Rock 6-2 Martin Schindler
Gordon Mathers 6-2 Andy Boulton
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Ryan Searle 6-4 Alan Soutar
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Joe Cullen 6-2 Jim Moston
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Tony Martinez
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Andrew Gilding
James Wade 6-3 Graham Hall
Rob Cross 6-4 Joe Murnan
Mervyn King 6-4 Devon Petersen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Matt Campbell
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Danny Noppert
Peter Wright 6-2 Richie Burnett
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Steve Lennon 6-2 John O’Shea
Steve Beaton 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Michael Smith 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Ian White 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Vladimir Andersen 6-5 Luke Humphries
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Berry van Peer
Jose de Sousa 6-1 Adam Gawlas
Michael Unterbuchner 6-1 Madars Razma
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Kevin Burness 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Callan Rydz 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Eddie Lovely 6-3 Jake Jones
Losers: £750
Last 32
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Ricky Evans
Josh Rock 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp
Gordon Mathers 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Searle 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Joe Cullen 6-1 Ryan Meikle
James Wade 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Rob Cross 6-4 Mervyn King
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Peter Wright
Steve Beaton 6-5 Steve Lennon
Ian White 6-2 Michael Smith
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Vladimir Andersen
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Michael Unterbuchner
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Callan Rydz 6-4 Kevin Burness
Eddie Lovely 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Josh Rock 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Ryan Searle 6-4 Gordon Mathers
Joe Cullen 6-4 James Wade
Rob Cross 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Steve Beaton
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ian White
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Jose de Sousa
Callan Rydz 6-5 Eddie Lovely
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Searle 6-0 Josh Rock
Rob Cross 6-5 Joe Cullen
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Callan Rydz
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Ryan Searle 7-6 Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall 7-5 Dave Chisnall
Losers: £4,000
Final
Ryan Searle 8-3 Nathan Aspinall
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
