Dirk van Duijvenbode found averages of triple figures in his last four games at Players Championship 18 in Barnsley and beat Gabriel Clemens 8-0 to win his second title on the Pro Tour this year. The Titan found double four with his third match dart to cap of what has been a brilliant day including an average of 107.58 in beating World Number 1 Peter Wright 6-4 in the Last 16.
Van Duijvenbode closed out victory over Snakebite in the tenth leg, finding the big fish on the bull to win with the reigning World Champion setting up tops with a 130 score in what turned out to be his last visit to the board. The Dutchman also beat recent European Darts Matchplay champion Luke Humphries 6-2 in the Quarter Finals with a 105.44 average.
Adrian Lewis survived match darts against Keane Barry in a huge match in relation to the ongoing battle of qualifying for the World Matchplay, as the young Irishman missed three match darts for a 6-2 win in the first round. Jackpot reeled off four straight legs to win 6-5 and enjoyed a strong run to the Semi Finals on Friday.
The former back-to-back world champion included victories over Micky Mansell, averaging 107.48 in beating the Irishman 6-3 in Barnsley. Lewis also ended the progress of Andrew Gilding, (6-2) with Goldfinger coming out of the blocks flying after averaging 118.33 in beating Brett Claydon 6-1 in the First Round, before beating Berry van Peer by the same score line with a score of 111.52.
Daryl Gurney made it a happy return to the Quarter Finals in Players Championship 18, eventually halted by Gabriel Clemens who averaged 101.20 in a 6-3 victory. Superchin beat fellow countryman and winner on the development tour Nathan Rafferty 6-4 despite averaging lower than his young opponent in his first tungsten affair of the day.
The 2017 Grand Prix Champion saved his best performance for Welshman Jon Worsley, averaging 104.73 in winning 6-1 to reach the Last 16 in Barnsley.
Luke Humphries despite defeat in the Quarter Finals found two ton plus averages in his matches with Jamie Clark in Round 1 (6-3) and former Lakeside champion Scott Mitchell in the Last 16. (6-4)
Red Dragon star Ryan Meikle again performed well on the Pro Tour after reaching the Last 16, beating the likes of Martin Lukeman and double winner on the World Series Dimitri van den Bergh in the Last 32, before exiting to runner up Gabriel Clemens in Yorkshire.
The German Giant was one of the players in danger of losing their spot in the World Matchplay at the start of the day, with the top 16 on the Pro Tour Order of Merit joining the top 16 in the PDC Rankings in completing the line-up at the Winter Gardens. For the likes of Simon Whitlock and Vincent van der Voort, the need for ranking money grows with three Pro Tours now to play before the field is confirmed as the competition starts in eight days.
Players Championship 19 will commence tomorrow in Barnsley live on PDC TV, with many players looking for glory ahead of arguably the second biggest competition in darts returning to Blackpool.
Players Championship 18: Last 16 Results
Luke Humphries 6-4 Scott Mitchell
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Peter Wright
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Micky Mansell
Andrew Gilding 6-5 James Wade
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Joe Cullen
Daryl Gurney 6-0 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Quarter Finals:
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Luke Humphries
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Semi Finals:
Dirk van Duijvenbode 7-4 Adrian Lewis
Gabriel Clemens 7-6 Nathan Aspinall
Final:
Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-0 Gabriel Clemens
