Ryan Searle picked up a 4th PDC ranking title of his career on Saturday, with victory over Jamie Hughes, 8-4, in the final of Players Championship One, as the 2023 PDC Pro Tour season commenced at the Barnsley Metrodome.
Searle, who lost out in the final of the opening Pro Tour Event in 2022, went a step further on Saturday, as he reached the decider by recording victories over Daniel Klose, Florian Hempel, Keegan Brown, Luke Humphries, Dirk Van Duijvenbode and Jonny Clayton, to set up a clash with Hughes.
The final began with ‘Yozza’ racing into a 2-0 lead, with winning legs coming in a total of 28 darts, before Searle rattled off six straight legs in succession to move 6-2 ahead in a race of eight. The tie then saw four straight holds of throw, in which Searle sealed victory in Leg 12 with a 16 darter to pick up the £12,000 1st prize and a 4th ranking title of his career.
Former Czech Darts Open winner, Hughes, reached his first ranking final since that tournament win in June 2019, as he recorded victories over Joe Cullen, Connor Scutt, Chris Dobey, Michael Smith, Callan Rydz and Dylan Slevin, before being denied by Searle.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Finals for Former Premier League Stars Daryl Gurney and Dave Chisnall, with the likes of Michael Van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Gabriel Clemens among the names to suffer early exits at the Metrodome.
The PDC Pro Tour weekend concludes on Sunday with Players Championship Two taking place in Barnsley, with the 128 players returning to compete for a further £100,000 in prize money, with play beginning at 13:00 GMT. Play will be broadcasted across two streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com.
Players Championship One
Last 16
Ryan Searle 6-4 Luke Humphries
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-5 Jurjen Van der Velde
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Callan Rydz 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jamie Hughes 6-3 Michael Smith
Dylan Slevin 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Danny Noppert
Quarter Finals
Ryan Searle 6-5 Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Callan Rydz
Dylan Slevin 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Semi Finals
Ryan Searle 7-4 Jonny Clayton
Jamie Hughes 7-2 Dylan Slevin
Final
Ryan Searle 8-4 Jamie Hughes
—ENDS—
Images: PDC
