Suljovic denies nine-dart White to claim Players Championship 26 title

Mensur Suljovic defied a spectacular nine-dart finish and a 107 average from Ian White to edge a thrilling last-leg final and claim the Players Championship 26 title in Barnsley on Sunday.

White had produced a blistering series of displays en route to the final and maintained that standard throughout, notably landing a perfect tenth leg to level the contest.

However, he saw a 4-2 advantage slip through his fingers as the Austrian ace dug deep to deny ‘Diamond’ a third ranking title of 2019.

Suljovic kick-started his charge with a 6-4 win over Richard North in Round One before defeating Gavin Carlin 6-2 and Ryan Joyce 6-4 to reach the Last 16.

There, he powered past reigning Lakeside Champion Glen Durrant 6-2 before edging out Cristo Reyes in a deciding leg and overcoming Jonny Clayton 7-5 to seal his spot in the final.

The opening four legs of the final went with the throw before White established daylight at 4-2.

Suljovic hit back superbly with a 140 checkout in leg seven before taking out 81 and clinching leg nine to hit the front.

White, however, stopped the rot in dream fashion, landing a 177, a 180 and a 144 checkout for a perfect leg and went on to level up again at six apiece.

The Stoke ace then missed one dart at tops in leg 13, allowing Suljovic to finish 78 to move to the verge of victory at 7-6.

Suljovic then wired double 19 for a 158 match checkout in the following leg and White stepped in for tops to force a fitting decider.

It was Suljovic who held his nerve in style, cleaning up 109 to secure the £10,000 top prize at the Barnsley Metrodome.

White’s run to the final began with a 6-3 win over Jan Dekker with a 103.8 average before defeating Alan Tabern 6-2 with a 99 average.

He then ended the run of veteran Andy Jenkins with a 6-4 triumph in the Last 32 before averaging 103.7 in denying Geert Nentjes 6-3.

In the Quarter-Finals, White replicated that exact average in whitewashing fellow Stoke thrower Andy Boulton, before registering a personal best average on the ProTour (115) in a ruthless 7-2 rout of Steve West. 

West had enjoyed a fine run to the Semi-Finals, defeating both Peter Wright and Gary Anderson along the way, while Jonny Clayton produced a string of ton-plus averages in also making the Last Four.

The day also saw Rob Cross register his first competitive nine-darter as a PDC Tour Card holder en route to a 6-3 victory over Spain’s Jose Justicia in Round Two.

Following Players Championship 26, the 32-man field for next month’s World Grand Prix is now confirmed, with Mervyn King and Dimitri van den Bergh securing the final two places at the expense of Gabriel Clemens and Jose De Sousa.

The draw for the World Grand Prix will take place on Friday September 27.

Sunday September 22

First Round

Ian White 6-3 Jan Dekker

Alan Tabern 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher

William O’Connor 6-3 Barrie Bates

Andy Jenkins 6-1 Michael Barnard

Jamie Lewis 6-4 Michael Smith

Gary Eastwood 6-3 Bradley Brooks

Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-1 Steve Lennon

Geert Nentjes 6-4 Eddie Dootson

Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Joe Cullen

Matthew Edgar 6-1 Yordi Meeuwisse

John Henderson 6-3 Josh Payne

Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Matt Clark

Jamie Bain 6-3 Adrian Lewis

Andy Boulton 6-1 Simon Stevenson

Mike van Duivenbode 6-5 Max Hopp

Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Mark Wilson

Steve West 6-3 Peter Wright

Kevin Burness 6-4 Ryan Searle

Mervyn King 6-3 Reece Robinson

Scott Baker 6-5 Peter Hudson

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Nathan Derry

Ritchie Edhouse 6-1 Niels Zonneveld

Stephen Bunting 6-3 Tytus Kanik

Martin Schindler 6-4 Darren Webster

Daryl Gurney 6-2 Cameron Menzies

Terry Temple 6-4 Jonathan Worsley

Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Simon Whitlock

Gary Anderson 6-1 Mark Dudbridge

James Richardson 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena

Mark McGeeney 6-5 Davy Van Baelen

Cody Harris 6-4 Chris Dobey

Kyle McKinstry 6-3 Vincent Kamphuis

Gerwyn Price 6-3 Mario Robbe

Ron Meulenkamp 6-3 Carl Wilkinson

Jose De Sousa 6-4 Marko Kantele

Robert Owen 6-2 Christian Kist

Jamie Hughes 6-4 Boris Koltsov

John Michael 6-2 Joe Murnan

Cristo Reyes 6-5 Ricky Evans

Devon Petersen 6-2 Brendan Dolan

Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Richard North

Gavin Carlin 6-3 Ted Evetts

Madars Razma 6-2 Vincent van der Voort

Ryan Joyce 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Glen Durrant 6-0 Mickey Mansell

Conan Whitehead 6-3 Vincent Van der Meer

Danny Noppert 6-3 Berry van Peer

James Wilson 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven

Ross Smith 6-4 Benito van de Pas

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Robert Thornton

Alan Norris 6-3 Scott Taylor

Rob Cross 6-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Jose Justicia BYE Arron Monk

Keegan Brown 6-1 Harry Ward

Toni Alcinas 6-3 Mark Webster

Ryan Meikle 6-3 Dave Chisnall

Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Callan Rydz

Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Christian Bunse

Tony Newell 6-5 Adam Hunt

Jonny Clayton 6-2 Adrian Gray

Justin Pipe 6-3 Kirk Shepherd

Steve Beaton 6-5 Wayne Jones

Stephen Burton 6-3 Ryan Harrington

Second Round

Ian White 6-2 Alan Tabern

Andy Jenkins 6-4 William O’Connor

Gary Eastwood 6-2 Jamie Lewis

Geert Nentjes 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan

Matthew Edgar 6-5 Jelle Klaasen

John Henderson 6-5 Darius Labanauskas

Andy Boulton 6-0 Jamie Bain

Mike van Duivenbode 6-2 Luke Woodhouse

Steve West 6-0 Kevin Burness

Mervyn King 6-4 Scott Baker

Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse

Martin Schindler 6-4 Stephen Bunting

Daryl Gurney 6-4 Terry Temple

Gary Anderson 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts

James Richardson 6-5 Mark McGeeney

Kyle McKinstry 6-5 Cody Harris

Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Gerwyn Price

Jose De Sousa 6-4 Robert Owen

Jamie Hughes 6-2 John Michael

Cristo Reyes 6-5 Devon Petersen

Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Gavin Carlin

Ryan Joyce 6-4 Madars Razma

Glen Durrant 6-1 Conan Whitehead

Danny Noppert 6-2 James Wilson

Ross Smith 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski

Alan Norris 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Rob Cross 6-3 Jose Justicia – *Cross hits a nine-darter*

Keegan Brown 6-5 Toni Alcinas

Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Ryan Meikle

Gabriel Clemens 6-0 Tony Newell

Jonny Clayton 6-1 Justin Pipe

Stephen Burton 6-5 Steve Beaton

Losers: £500

Last 32

Ian White 6-4 Andy Jenkins

Geert Nentjes 6-1 Gary Eastwood

Matthew Edgar 6-5 John Henderson

Andy Boulton 6-1 Mike van Duivenbode

Steve West 6-5 Mervyn King

Martin Schindler 6-4 Nathan Aspinall

Gary Anderson 6-2 Daryl Gurney

James Richardson 6-4 Kyle McKinstry

Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Jose De Sousa

Cristo Reyes 6-3 Jamie Hughes

Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Ryan Joyce

Glen Durrant 6-4 Danny Noppert

Ross Smith 6-1 Alan Norris

Rob Cross 6-2 Keegan Brown

Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Kim Huybrechts

Jonny Clayton 6-1 Stephen Burton

Losers: £1,000

Winner: £10,000

Runner-up: £6,000