De Sousa doubles PDC title tally at Players Championship 28

Jose De Sousa secured a second PDC ranking title in the space of four weeks as he defeated Glen Durrant 8-6 to triumph at Players Championship 28 in Dublin on Saturday.

The Portuguese number one, who clinched his Tour Card at Qualifying School in January, opened his account at Players Championship 23 last month as a 150/1 outsider and proved that victory was no flash in the pan by quickly adding a second success.

The 45-year-old produced a series of superb displays, culminating in a hard-fought win over the three-time Lakeside Champion, to seal the £10,000 top prize at the Citywest Hotel.

“The final was not my best game, it was a complicated game,” admitted De Sousa. “This final was a moment of magic for me, a great moment.

“If I play my best game I can beat almost anyone. I practice so hard, every day and I want to make a big future for myself.

“I didn’t think this was possible, I could not imagine this.

“This is my first year in the PDC, all I wanted was experience but this has been amazing. I will continue my work and in the future we will see what happens.”

A 98 average in a 6-2 win over former world finalist Mark Dudbridge began the day for De Sousa, before a remarkable 6-1 triumph, with an average of almost 108 saw ‘El Triple 20’ move safely in to the Last 32.

A narrow 6-4 victory over 2008 Lakeside Champion Mark Webster and a 6-2 win over Spain’s Jesus Noguera saw De Sousa move in to the Quarter-Finals.

Another ton-plus average followed, this time in a 6-3 win over a resurgent Kim Huybrechts, before De Sousa eased to a 7-3 defeat of Mensur Suljovic – who had produced a nine-dart finish in his victory over Adam Hunt earlier in the day. 

De Sousa kicked off the final with a 180 and finished 79 to clinch the opening leg before going on to claim three of the next four legs to move 4-1 ahead.

Durrant dug deep to reel off three consecutive legs for parity before De Sousa steadied the ship with double two to regain the upper-hand at 5-4.

Costly missed doubles from ‘Duzza’ in leg ten allowed De Sousa to restore a two-leg cushion but a 177 and double four, proceeded by a 21-darter on double one saw the Teessider draw level once again.

De Sousa, however, held firm with tops to move one away from the winning line, which he crossed by virtue of hitting double ten.

Durrant, who was featuring in his fourth PDC final since his switch from the BDO, had another successful day with notable wins against Ian White and a Semi-Final victory against Friday’s champion Gerwyn Price.

World number one Michael van Gerwen, meanwhile, suffered a shock Second Round exit at the hands of a resurgent Alan Norris, while Gary Anderson also fell at the second hurdle as he went down 6-3 to David Evans.

The final two Players Championship events of the season will take place from October 14-15, following which the field for the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals will be confirmed.

Saturday October 5

First Round

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Devon Petersen

Alan Norris 6-3 Davy Van Baelen

Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Cameron Menzies

Terry Temple 6-4 Christian Kist

Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 James Richardson

Andrew Gilding 6-1 Jamie Lewis

Michael Smith 6-5 Robert Owen

Steve Lennon 6-1 Tony Newell

Peter Wright 6-3 Carl Wilkinson

Martin Schindler 6-4 Mike van Duivenbode

Gary Anderson 6-1 Vincent van der Voort

David Evans 6-4 Ted Evetts

Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Alan Tabern

Adam Hunt 6-3 Mark Wilson

Keegan Brown 6-2 Mark McGeeney

William O’Connor 6-3 Max Hopp

Cody Harris 6-5 Dave Chisnall

Christian Bunse 6-5 Nathan Derry

Zoran Lerchbacher w/o Mervyn King

Josh Payne 6-4 Vincent Van der Meer

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Brendan Dolan

Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Dawson Murschell

Gavin Carlin 6-2 Steve Beaton

Scott Baker 6-5 Reece Robinson

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Ryan Searle

Mark Webster 6-4 Jelle Klaasen

Jose De Sousa 6-2 Mark Dudbridge

Stephen Burton 6-5 Darren Webster

Joe Murnan 6-4 Adrian Lewis

Madars Razma 6-2 Ryan Joyce

Jesus Noguera 6-2 Ricky Evans

Boris Koltsov 6-5 Wayne Jones

Gerwyn Price 6-0 Jonathan Worsley

Justin Pipe 6-1 Ronny Huybrechts

Luke Humphries 6-4 Simon Whitlock

Robert Thornton 6-2 Bradley Brooks

Jonny Clayton 6-4 Benito van de Pas

Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Luke Woodhouse

Jamie Hughes 6-1 Harry Ward

Ryan Harrington 6-4 Barrie Bates

James Wade 6-1 Steve West

Arron Monk 6-2 Matthew Edgar

John Henderson 6-2 Eddie Dootson

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 George Killington

Joe Cullen 6-1 Mario Robbe

Matt Clark 6-5 Richard North

Jose Justicia 6-5 Stephen Bunting

Mickey Mansell 6-0 Jan Dekker

Daryl Gurney 6-2 Kirk Shepherd

Scott Taylor 6-2 Michael Barnard

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Geert Nentjes

Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Kevin Burness

Glen Durrant 6-3 Ross Smith

Cristo Reyes 6-4 Berry van Peer

Chris Dobey 6-3 Adrian Gray

Ryan Meikle 6-3 Darius Labanauskas

Ian White 6-2 Niels Zonneveld

Andy Boulton 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp

Danny Noppert 6-1 Simon Stevenson

Tytus Kanik 6-4 Marko Kantele

Rob Cross 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Conan Whitehead 6-0 Gary Eastwood

David Pallett 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan

Callan Rydz 6-4 Peter Hudson

Second Round

Alan Norris 6-4 Michael van Gerwen

Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Terry Temple

Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Andrew Gilding

Michael Smith 6-3 Steve Lennon

Peter Wright 6-2 Martin Schindler

David Evans 6-3 Gary Anderson

Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Adam Hunt – *Suljovic hits a nine-darter*

Keegan Brown 6-2 William O’Connor

Christian Bunse 6-4 Cody Harris

Josh Payne 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher

Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Nathan Aspinall

Scott Baker 6-3 Gavin Carlin

Mark Webster 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski

Jose De Sousa 6-1 Stephen Burton

Madars Razma 6-3 Joe Murnan

Jesus Noguera 6-5 Boris Koltsov

Gerwyn Price 6-4 Justin Pipe

Luke Humphries 6-3 Robert Thornton

Jonny Clayton 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven

Jamie Hughes 6-0 Ryan Harrington

James Wade 6-2 Arron Monk

John Henderson 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Joe Cullen 6-3 Matt Clark

Jose Justicia 6-1 Mickey Mansell

Daryl Gurney 6-5 Scott Taylor

Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Glen Durrant 6-0 Cristo Reyes

Ryan Meikle 6-1 Chris Dobey

Ian White 6-3 Andy Boulton

Danny Noppert 6-3 Tytus Kanik

Conan Whitehead 6-4 Rob Cross

Callan Rydz 6-4 David Pallett

Losers: £500

Last 32

Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Alan Norris

Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Michael Smith

Peter Wright 6-2 David Evans

Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Keegan Brown

Christian Bunse 6-4 Josh Payne

Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Scott Baker

Jose De Sousa 6-4 Mark Webster

Jesus Noguera 6-4 Madars Razma

Gerwyn Price 6-2 Luke Humphries

Jonny Clayton 6-0 Jamie Hughes

James Wade 6-4 John Henderson

Jose Justicia 6-4 Joe Cullen

Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Daryl Gurney

Glen Durrant 6-3 Ryan Meikle

Ian White 6-2 Danny Noppert

Conan Whitehead 6-4 Callan Rydz

Losers: £1,000

Last 16

Jermaine Wattimena 6-1Gabriel Clemens

Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Peter Wright

Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Christian Bunse

Jose De Sousa 6-2 Jesus Noguera

Gerwyn Price 6-5 Jonny Clayton

James Wade 6-5 Jose Justicia

Glen Durrant 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse

Ian White 6-4 Conan Whitehead

Losers: £1,500

Quarter-Finals

Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena

Jose De Sousa 6-3 Kim Huybrechts

Gerwyn Price 6-2James Wade

Glen Durrant 6-5 Ian White

Losers: £2,250

Semi-Finals

Jose De Sousa 7-3 Mensur Suljovic

Glen Durrant 7-6 Gerwyn Price

Losers: £3,000

Final

Jose De Sousa 8-6 Glen Durrant

Winner: £10,000

Runner-up: £6,000