Michael van Gerwen picks up Players Championship Eight title
Michael van Gerwen secured his first ProTour title of 2022 at Players Championship Eight in Niedernhausen with victory over Martin Schindler in the final.
Van Gerwen claimed the German Championship title a fortnight ago and added the £12,000 title on Sunday to conclude the German-based ProTour weekend with an 8-4 defeat of Schindler in the decider.
In-form Schindler had battled through to reach his first Players Championship final but was unable to match the three-time World Champion.
Van Gerwen dropped just two legs in wins over Radek Szaganski and Jim Moston to kick-start his run to glory, before seeing off Geert De Vos and Danny Noppert 6-3 to reach the Quarter-Finals.
There, he posted a third ton-plus average of the day to overcome Brendan Dolan 6-4, and was a 7-5 Semi-Final winner in a tight contest with Luke Humphries.
Van Gerwen dominated the early stages of the final with Schindler, opening up leads of 3-0, 5-1 and 6-2 before legs of 14 and 11 darts saw the German cut the gap to just two legs.
Van Gerwen, though, restored breathing space with a superb 126 checkout for a 12-darter before wrapping up victory in 13 darts in the next leg.
“I think I did the right things at the right moments and that makes you win finals like this,” said Van Gerwen. “I didn’t play phenomenal but I think I did okay today.
“You want to keep pushing and keep performing well and that takes a lot of energy out of you, but I’m not here to play a few rounds, I want to win these tournaments. It gives you more confidence and more energy.
“The only medicine for getting back on track is winning games and winning tournaments. That’s the only thing you can do.
“I was hanging in there and I never gave up, and I think today my focus was there and absolute will to win was there, and that’s the only thing that matters.”
Schindler’s superb run included a monster 108 average in his Second Round win over Luc Peters, a whitewash of Rowby-John Rodriguez and victories over Steve Beaton, Jamie Hughes, Daryl Gurney and Adrian Lewis.
He had reached a Players Championship Semi-Final last weekend, as well as the Last 32 of the recent UK Open, with Sunday’s run to a first ProTour final continuing his fine form this month.
“Martin is a good player, especially for the German market, and he’s doing a good job for himself,” added Van Gerwen.
“He’s a really good dart player and you need to make sure you keep your focus going and put him under pressure, because he can play really well and you don’t want to give him the confidence.”
Humphries won through to the Semi-Finals in his bid to claim a second Players Championship title of the year, defeating James Wade in the Last Eight in a repeat of the 2021 UK Open final in the process.
He was joined in the Semis by two-time World Champion Lewis, who enjoyed his best run since October with wins over Damon Heta and Stephen Bunting along the way.
Bunting, Wade, Dolan and Gurney completed the Quarter-Final line-up, while Jamie Hughes knocked out Saturday’s Players Championship Seven winner Gerwyn Price en route to the Last 16.
CLAIM 50 FREE SPINS WHEN YOU REGISTER HERE (18+ | T&Cs Apply)
Players Championship Eight Results
Sunday March 27
First Round
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Tony Martinez
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Lewy Williams
Mike De Decker 6-5 Vladimir Andersen
Martin Schindler 6-2 Steve Beaton
Luc Peters 6-4 John Henderson
Pete Burgoyne 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Shaun Wilkinson
Max Hopp 6-5 Glen Durrant
Scott Marsh 6-3 Madars Razma
Colin Osborne 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Michael Flynn
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Devon Petersen
Martijn Kleermaker 6-2 Richie Burnett
Leighton Bennett 6-4 Joe Murnan
Rob Cross 6-4 Jose Justicia
Scott Mitchell 6-4 Carlo van Peer
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Zoran Lerchbacher
Jason Heaver 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Damian Mol
Jacques Labre 6-5 Ross Montgomery
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Callan Rydz
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Jeremy van der Winkel
Damon Heta 6-5 Jason Lowe
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Eddie Lovely
Simon Whitlock 6-3 John O’Shea
Matthew Edgar 6-5 David Evans
Steven Noster 6-5 Ross Smith
Owen Roelofs 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Jon Worsley
Alan Soutar 6-1 Gary Blades
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Radek Szaganski
Jim Moston 6-5 Andy Boulton
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks
Geert De Vos 6-5 Connor Scutt
Danny Noppert 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-5 Scott Waites
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Berry van Peer
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Thibault Tricole
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Darren Webster
William O’Connor 6-1 Darius Labanauskas
Danny Jansen 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Ted Evetts 6-3 Roman Benecky
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Daniel Klose
Keegan Brown 6-0 Florian Hempel
Mervyn King 6-4 Kevin Doets
Geert Nentjes 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Matt Campbell 6-4 Ian White
Keane Barry 6-4 Jake Jones
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Brian Raman
James Wade 6-3 Steve West
Adam Hunt 6-3 Steve Lennon
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Stephen Burton 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Luke Humphries 6-3 Thomas Lovely
Ryan Meikle 6-1 Jack Main
Jeff Smith 6-1 Ricky Evans
Peter Hudson 6-4 Gordon Mathers
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Chris Dobey
Brett Claydon 6-3 Scott Williams
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 George Killington
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Kevin Burness
Second Round
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Jamie Hughes 6-1 Mike De Decker
Martin Schindler 6-2 Luc Peters
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Pete Burgoyne
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Max Hopp
Scott Marsh 6-2 Colin Osborne
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Martijn Kleermaker 6-4 Leighton Bennett
Rob Cross 6-1 Scott Mitchell
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Jason Heaver
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Jacques Labre
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Damon Heta 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Matthew Edgar
Owen Roelofs 6-4 Steven Noster
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Alan Soutar
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Jim Moston
Geert De Vos 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Danny Noppert 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Jules van Dongen
William O’Connor 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Danny Jansen 6-4 Ted Evetts
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Keegan Brown
Mervyn King 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Matt Campbell 6-3 Jose de Sousa
Keane Barry 6-5 Mickey Mansell
James Wade 6-0 Adam Hunt
Stephen Burton 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Luke Humphries 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Peter Hudson 6-5 Jeff Smith
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Brett Claydon
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Losers: £750
Last 32
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Martin Schindler 6-0 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Scott Marsh
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Rob Cross 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Luke Woodhouse
Damon Heta 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Owen Roelofs
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Geert De Vos
Danny Noppert 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Danny Jansen 6-1 William O’Connor
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Mervyn King
Keane Barry 6-1 Matt Campbell
James Wade 6-4 Stephen Burton
Luke Humphries 6-2 Peter Hudson
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Martin Schindler 6-2 Jamie Hughes
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Rob Cross
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Danny Noppert
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Danny Jansen
James Wade 6-3 Keane Barry
Luke Humphries 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Martin Schindler 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Luke Humphries 6-5 James Wade
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Martin Schindler 7-2 Adrian Lewis
Michael van Gerwen 7-5 Luke Humphries
Losers: £4,000
Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-4 Martin Schindler
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
