Ryan Searle storms to Players Championship 7 title
Ryan Searle clinched his eighth PDC ranking title at Players Championship 7 in Leicester on Monday with a dominant 8-3 win over Alan Soutar in the final.
Searle maintained his impressive record of having won a ProTour event in each of the last seven years as he took glory at the Mattioli Arena.
The World Championship semi-finalist averaged above 100 for the day, culminating in a ruthless victory over Soutar to seal the £15,000 top prize.
“I played really solid today,” said Searle. “Averages-wise my best was against Raymond [van Barneveld], and feeling wise it felt like the worst which was a little bit odd.
“February and March time is normally my time of year when I win things, and if I can win one or two more to break new ground this year, I will do that.
“I’ve had a bit more attention this year so far. “It’s been really good. I’ve been able to raise awareness for the Cure ADOA Foundation, but motivation wise, I haven’t been practising.
“I would like to win a European Tour, that would be the next goal for me; to prove that I can win something on the big stage would be good.”
Searle kick-started his campaign with a 101.5 average in a 6-2 victory over Thomas Lovely, before thrashing Lithuania’s World Cup star Darius Labanauskas 6-1 with an average of 102.2.
The Devon-born star then dispatched of Dutch duo Jimmy van Schie and Raymond van Barneveld, producing his performance of the day against the five-time World Champion with a 104.5 average to progress to the quarter-finals.
Searle, who picked up his last Players Championship title in the same venue six months ago, then ended the hopes of Charlie Manby, averaging 99.4 in a 6-3 success.
The 38-year-old then swept aside his regular practice partner Gary Anderson 7-3 to storm into the final.
Searle started strongly in the final, registering winning legs of 15, 14 and 13 darts to establish a commanding 3-0 lead.
Soutar hit back with two of the next three legs to reduce the deficit to 4-2, but only for Searle to reel off three on the spin and go one away from victory.
Soutar stopped the rot in leg ten, but Searle made no mistake in closing out the win to move fourth in the 2026 Players Championship Order of Merit.
Soutar, who was seeking a second ProTour title, opened up with a stunning 105 average to dispatch of Tavis Dudeney 6-2, before winning back-to-back last-leg deciders against Jim Long and Derek Coulson respectively.
The Scot then defeated Alexander Merkx 6-3, before thrashing his Scottish compatriot Peter Wright 6-1 in the quarter-finals.
Soutar had surged into a 6-3 lead over Keane Barry in the semi-finals, before the Irishman replied with three legs in a row, but the Scot held firm to edge through in a last-leg shootout.
Barry produced the average of the tournament in his opening round game against Krzysztof Ratajaski, prevailing 6-2 with an average of 109.43.
The 23-year-old then overcame 2023 World Champion Michael Smith 6-4, before seeing off Sebastian Bialecki and Premier League star Stephen Bunting 6-3 and 6-4 respectively.
Barry then swept aside Jeffrey Sparidaans with an average of 104, sealing his spot in the semi-finals – where he was joined by Scottish number one Anderson.
The two-time World Champion defeated James Hurrell and Players Championship Six winner Chris Dobey in the latter stages of the tournament, but failed to land a first ranking title since March 2025.
Michael van Gerwen and Bunting were two of only three Premier League players in action on Monday, although both succumbed to Last 16 defeats in Leicester.
Van Gerwen, despite averaging over 104 earlier in the day, was beaten 6-3 by Sparidaans, while Bunting fell short to eventual semi-finalist Barry by the same scoreline.
Players Championship 7 Results
Monday March 30
First Round
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Tom Bissell
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Steve Lennon
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Wesley Plaisier
Niko Springer 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Jimmy van Schie 6-5 Bradley Brooks
Ryan Searle 6-2 Thomas Lovely
Darius Labanauskas 6-5 Leon Weber
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Nick Kenny 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Joe Cullen 6-4 Marvin van Velzen
Madars Razma 6-2 Darryl Pilgrim
Niall Culleton 6-3 Martin Schindler
Charlie Manby 6-4 Callan Rydz
Max Hopp 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Chris Landman
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Scott Williams
Carl Sneyd 6-1 Dennie Olde Kalter
Kevin Doets 6-1 Oskar Lukasiak
James Hurrell 6-5 Sietse Lap
Luke Woodhouse 6-0 Tom Sykes
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Tommy Lishman
Gary Anderson 6-5 Joe Hunt
Cam Crabtree 6-3 Mervyn King
Chris Dobey 6-4 Christian Kist
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Scott Waites 6-2 Mike De Decker
Connor Scutt 6-3 Stephen Burton
James Wade 6-1 Lukas Wenig
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Greg Ritchie
William O’Connor 6-5 Adam Warner
Ian White 6-3 Adam Leek
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Samuel Price 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Tyler Thorpe 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Martijn Dragt 6-4 Jack Tweddell
Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Rob Owen 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Keane Barry 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael Smith 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Danny Noppert 6-3 Yorick Hofkens
Rhys Griffin 6-5 Viktor Tingstrom
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Ricky Evans
Matthias Ehlers 6-5 Stefaan Henderyck
Damon Heta 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-1 Andy Boulton
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 Owen Bates
Ross Smith 6-5 Pascal Rupprecht
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Beau Greaves
Peter Wright 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Jurjen van der Velde 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Marvin Kraft
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Stephen Rosney
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Kai Gotthardt
Rob Cross 6-2 David Sharp
Adam Paxton 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Derek Coulson 6-5 Tommy Morris
Jim Long 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Alan Soutar 6-2 Tavis Dudeney
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Dominik Gruellich
Alexander Merkx 6-0 Filip Bereza
Arno Merk 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Cor Dekker 6-4 Shane McGuirk
Second Round
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Jeffrey De Graaf
Jimmy van Schie 6-2 Niko Springer
Ryan Searle 6-1 Darius Labanauskas
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Nick Kenny
Madars Razma 6-5 Joe Cullen
Charlie Manby 6-2 Niall Culleton
Max Hopp 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Carl Sneyd
James Hurrell 6-3 Kevin Doets
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Gary Anderson 6-3 Cam Crabtree
Chris Dobey 6-0 Adam Gawlas
Connor Scutt 6-4 Scott Waites
Cristo Reyes 6-2 James Wade
Ian White 6-2 William O’Connor
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Samuel Price
Tyler Thorpe 6-3 Martijn Dragt
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Rob Owen
Keane Barry 6-4 Michael Smith
Danny Noppert 6-4 Rhys Griffin
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Matthias Ehlers
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Damon Heta
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Ross Smith
Peter Wright 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Rob Cross
Derek Coulson 6-3 Adam Paxton
Alan Soutar 6-5 Jim Long
Alexander Merkx 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Arno Merk 6-2 Cor Dekker
Last 32
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Wessel Nijman
Ryan Searle 6-2 Jimmy van Schie
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Madars Razma
Charlie Manby 6-5 Max Hopp
James Hurrell 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Gary Anderson 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Chris Dobey 6-3 Connor Scutt
Cristo Reyes 6-5 Ian White
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Tyler Thorpe
Keane Barry 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Danny Noppert
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-5 Benjamin Pratnemer
Peter Wright 6-1 Ryan Meikle
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Alan Soutar 6-5 Derek Coulson
Alexander Merkx 6-3 Arno Merk
Last 16
Ryan Searle 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Charlie Manby 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Gary Anderson 6-3 James Hurrell
Chris Dobey 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Keane Barry 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Alan Soutar 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Searle 6-3 Charlie Manby
Gary Anderson 6-2 Chris Dobey
Keane Barry 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Alan Soutar 6-1 Peter Wright
Semi-Finals
Ryan Searle 7-3 Gary Anderson
Alan Soutar 7-6 Keane Barry
Final
Ryan Searle 8-3 Alan Soutar
