Gian Van Veen clinches maiden PDC ranking title at Players Championship 6
Gian van Veen sealed his first PDC ranking title at Players Championship 6 on Wednesday with an 8-3 rout of Luke Humphries in the final in Leicester.
Having squandered six match darts to claim the title on Tuesday, Van Veen went one better in terrific fashion at the Mattioli Arena 24 hours later.
The Dutch star thrashed world number one Humphries in the final to break new ground and become the latest new winner of a PDC ranking event.
“After what happened yesterday, this feels amazing,” said Van Veen.
“I felt a bit hard done by yesterday, I think everyone watched it and I was heartbroken, so to rectify that today is unbelievable.
“I’ve been playing well so far this year and my goal was to win a title; I knew I was the highest-ranked player without a ranking title.
“I’ve achieved that now and this win will give me massive confidence going into a busy next few weeks.”
Van Veen began his route to glory with a 6-2 win over Steve Lennon, before averaging 103 in a 6-3 success over Krzysztof Ratajski.
He then held firm to come through a last-leg decider with Connor Scutt in the Last 32, averaging 99.5 to his opponent’s 102.7 in a high quality battle.
The World Youth champion thrashed Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 with a 99.8 average and maintained that level in the quarter-finals to sweep aside James Wade 6-2.
Van Veen duly romped into the final courtesy of a 7-1 demolition of Madars Razma with a 103.3 average.
The final saw Van Veen race into a 4-1 lead with the aid of two 13-darters, and the 22-year-old kept Humphries at bay in a one-sided encounter, despite six 180s from the reigning World Master – who pegged back to 5-3 behind before the Dutchman reeled off three in a row to seal victory.
Humphries’ run to the final began with a 6-3 win over Andy Boulton which saw him land a sensational nine-darter and average 108.7.
He went on to edge out Jitse van der Wal and Luke Woodhouse in last-leg deciders before averaging 106.5 in a 6-3 win over William O’Connor and surviving three match darts from a wasteful Damon Heta in the quarter-finals, before averaging 107.4 in a 7-4 success over Ross Smith.
Meanwhile, World Champion Luke Littler lost out in a last-leg decider to Dom Taylor in Round Two, while Michael van Gerwen fell at the same stage to Ryan Meikle.
Scottish star Alan Soutar also landed a nine-dart finish in his 6-5 defeat to Littler in the opening round.
Players Championship 6 Results
Wednesday March 12
First Round
Kevin Doets 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Justin Hood
Niko Springer 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Leon Weber
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Mike De Decker
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Rob Cross 6-3 Adam Hunt
Chris Landman 6-2 Nathan Rafferty
Joe Cullen 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Dylan Slevin 6-1 Dominik Gruellich
Ross Smith 6-0 Adam Warner
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-0 Brett Claydon
Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 William Borland
Stephen Burton 6-3 Jose De Sousa
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Ian White
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Benjamin Reus
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Beau Greaves 6-0 Tytus Kanik
Luke Humphries 6-3 Andy Boulton *Humphries hits a nine-darter*
Jitse Van der Wal 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Keane Barry 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Greg Ritchie 6-4 Jonny Clayton
William O’Connor 6-3 Richard Veenstra
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Nick Kenny
Marvin van Velzen 6-3 Darryl Pilgrim
Chris Dobey 6-4 Jim Williams
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Max Hopp
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Tavis Dudeney
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Patrick Geeraets
Damon Heta 6-2 Joshua Richardson
Stefan Bellmont 6-1 Tom Bissell
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Rhys Griffin
Michele Turetta 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Andy Baetens
Thomas Lovely 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Dennie Olde Kalter
Matt Campbell 6-3 Rob Owen
James Hurrell 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Oskar Lukasiak 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Madars Razma 6-5 Michael Smith
Callan Rydz 6-5 Maximilian Czerwinski
Haupai Puha 6-3 Josh Rock
Owen Bates 6-4 Florian Hempel
Gary Anderson 6-5 Pero Ljubic
Martijn Dragt 6-2 Darren Beveridge
Kai Gotthardt 6-5 Ryan Searle
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-3 Adam Paxton
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jim Long 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Luke Littler 6-5 Alan Soutar – *Soutar hits a nine-darter*
Dom Taylor 6-4 Ricky Evans
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Connor Scutt 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Gian van Veen 6-2 Steve Lennon
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Scott Williams
Viktor Tingstrom 6-2 Peter Wright
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Danny Lauby
Cam Crabtree 6-2 Martin Schindler
Cor Dekker 6-2 Robert Grundy
James Wade 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Christian Kist 6-3 George Killington
Berry van Peer 6-4 Danny Noppert
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Stefaan Henderyck
Second Round
Kevin Doets 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Niko Springer
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Rob Cross 6-3 Chris Landman
Joe Cullen 6-4 Dylan Slevin
Ross Smith 6-3 Jeffrey De Graaf
Stephen Burton 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Beau Greaves
Luke Humphries 6-5 Jitse Van der Wal
Keane Barry 6-5 Wessel Nijman
William O’Connor 6-4 Greg Ritchie
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Marvin van Velzen
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Chris Dobey
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Adam Lipscombe
Damon Heta 6-4 Stefan Bellmont
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Michele Turetta
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Thomas Lovely
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Matt Campbell
James Hurrell 6-1 Oskar Lukasiak
Madars Razma 6-4 Callan Rydz
Owen Bates 6-5 Haupai Puha
Gary Anderson 6-5 Martijn Dragt
Kai Gotthardt 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Jim Long
Dom Taylor 6-5 Luke Littler
Connor Scutt 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Gian van Veen 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Viktor Tingstrom
Cam Crabtree 6-5 Cor Dekker
James Wade 6-3 Christian Kist
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Berry van Peer
Last 32
Kevin Doets 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Rob Cross 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Ross Smith 6-2 Joe Cullen
Stephen Burton 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Luke Humphries 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
William O’Connor 6-1 Keane Barry
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Damon Heta 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Gerwyn Price 6-5 James Hurrell
Madars Razma 6-0 Owen Bates
Gary Anderson 6-5 Kai Gotthardt
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Dom Taylor
Gian van Veen 6-5 Connor Scutt
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Cam Crabtree
James Wade 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Last 16
Kevin Doets 6-4 Rob Cross
Ross Smith 6-0 Stephen Burton
Luke Humphries 6-3 William O’Connor
Damon Heta 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Madars Razma 6-2 Gary Anderson
Gian van Veen 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Quarter-Finals
Ross Smith 6-3 Kevin Doets
Luke Humphries 6-5 Damon Heta
Madars Razma 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Gian van Veen 6-2 James Wade
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 7-4 Ross Smith
Gian van Veen 7-1 Madars Razma
Final
Gian van Veen 8-3 Luke Humphries
