Michael Smith won Players Championship Event 16 in Niederhausen after beating Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-6 in the Final. Bully Boy will represent his country in Frankfurt in 2 days’ time and will go into the World Cup off the back of a third consecutive Pro Tour title, after winning events 14 and 15 last month.
The affair certainly produced high quality scoring from both players, with The Titan averaging the highest at 107.29 in Niederhausen. The US Masters champion found a checkout of 121 in the fourteenth and final leg on double sixteen to take home another £12,000 winners’ cheque from the Pro Tour.
The St Helens ace also showed a moment of brilliance to win his seventh leg of the Final, hitting two double nineteens to finish 95 winning the twelfth leg to go 7-5 up. A sensational afternoon from the Englishman as he averaged 105.58 in the match, after averaging 106.24 in beating youngster Josh Rock 7-3 in the Semi Finals.
Dirk van Duijvenbode can be happy with his run in Germany, beating former Lakeside World Champion and Winmau star Scott Waites and recent Nordic Darts Masters champion Dimitri van den Bergh 6-2 in the Last 16 with an average just shy of 96. The 29-year-old will partner Danny Noppert on Thursday for the World Cup after recent Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen ruled himself out due to upcoming surgery on his throwing hand.
Luke Humphries a 3-time Euro Tour champion reached the Quarter Finals in Niederhausen, eventually falling short to Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 with the Dutchman averaging in triple figures. Cool Hand’s best performance of the day was his 6-1 demolition of a winner on the Pro Tour already this year: Jim Williams.
The Red Dragon star averaged 102.09 in the match and went on to beat Hollywood Chris Dobey 6-2 with an average just shy of a ton in the Last 16. A strong return to action for Humphries having not played competitive darts since his victory in the Czech Darts Open last month.
John Henderson will go into the World Cup on a high after making the Final 8 in Event 16, beating the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Simon Whitlock en route to the Quarter Finals in Germany. The Highlander really battled his way through the field, finding his best performance against the Five-Time World Champion scoring 96.06 in a 6-4 victory.
The Red Dragon star is set to defend the title both he and Peter Wright won last year, and will go in with confidence that he does in fact have the game to beat the World’s best, beating former World Championship Finalist Simon Whitlock 6-3 in the Second Round.
Pro Tour Event 17 gets underway from 1pm tomorrow in Niederhausen with Michael Smith looking for a fourth Pro Tour title in a row on Wednesday live on PDC TV.
Players Championship 16 Results:
Last 16:
Luke Humphries 6-2 Chris Dobey
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Dimitri van den Bergh
Keane Barry 6-4 Dave Chisnall
John Henderson 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Michael Smith 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Danny Noppert
Josh Rock 6-0 Gabriel Clemens
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Damon Heta
Quarter Finals:
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Luke Humphries
Keane Barry 6-2 John Henderson
Michael Smith 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Josh Rock 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Semi Finals:
Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-1 Keane Barry
Michael Smith 7-3 Josh Rock
Final:
Michael Smith 8-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode
—–ENDS—-
Words: Harry Masterson
Image: PDC
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