Next Gen Stars Outgun Old Guard in Milton Keynes

The latest set of Players Championships proved a resounding success for the younger generation of players whilst what could be termed the’ Old Guard’ had flashes of their recent success. The ‘midult’ generation also failed to shine overall.

The teenagers kicked off strongly as Luke Littler picked up his seventh senior PDC title on Wednesday, after defeating Wessel Nijman 8-6 in the final of Players Championship Fifteen, as the Pro Tour triple header commenced at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.

Premier League Champion, Littler, who was victorious at the opening Players Championship Event of 2024, went all the way once again, as he reached the final firstly by recording victories against Boris Krcmar, Pascal Rupprecht, Jonny Clayton, Rhys Griffin, Krzysztof Ratajski and Chris Dobey, to set up a clash with Nijman.

The final began with Littler racing into a 2-0 lead, with winning legs coming in 18 and 13 darts respectively, before Nijman hit back and stormed in front by winning four straight legs in a total of 61 darts to move 4-2 ahead and halfway to victory. Littler then fort back by winning back-to-back legs in 13 and 11 darts respectively to square the tie up at 4apiece, before there was a run of four straight breaks of throw between the pair to make it 6-6 and a best of three contest.

However, ‘The Nuke’ showed his newly gained experience in senior finals, by winning the following two legs and sealed the victory in Leg 14 with a 17 darter to pick up a second Players Championship title of the year and become the first player to win multiple Pro Tour titles in 2024.

Nijman, who picked up three Development Tour titles last weekend, continued his impressive run of form by reaching his first senior final within the PDC, with the Dutchman recording victories on the day against Christian Kist, Gian Van Veen, Graham Hall, Darren Beveridge, Gary Anderson and Damon Heta, before being denied by ‘The Nuke’.

Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Belgium’s Mike De Decker and Switzerland’s Stefan Bellmont, with the Swiss reaching a second Pro Tour Quarter Final of 2024, whilst the likes of Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright and Stephen Bunting were amongst the high profile first round casualties.

Players Championship 15

Quarter Finals

Damon Heta 6-1 Stefan Bellmont

Wessel Nijman 6-5 Gary Anderson

Luke Littler 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski

Chris Dobey 6-1 Mike De Decker

Semi Finals

Wessel Nijman 7-5 Damon Heta

Luke Littler 7-2 Chris Dobey

Final

Luke Littler 8-6 Wessel Nijman

Another of the younger generation, although perhaps not in the first flush of youth, Mike De Decker picked up his maiden PDC ranking title on Thursday, after defeating Ricky Evans 8-2 in the final of Players Championship 16, as the midweek Pro Tour triple header continued in Milton Keynes.

De Decker, who’d previously reached one Pro Tour final losing out to Rob Cross, went a step further on Thursday, as he reached the final firstly by recording victories against Robbie Knops, Jose De Sousa, Dave Chisnall, Danny Van Trijp, Brendan Dolan and Karel Sedlacek, to set up a clash with Evans.

The final began with De Decker racing into a 3-0 lead, with winning legs coming in a total of 41 darts, before Evans ended the Belgian’s run in Leg Four with a 16 dart hold of throw to pick up his first leg of the tie. De Decker continued to dominant the finale, with the 28-year-old winning five of the following six legs, which saw him seal an 8-2 victory in Leg 10 with a 14 darter to pick up a first ranking title as well as the £15,000 top prize.

Evans’ run to another ranking final saw the quickfire Englishman record victories on the day against Rob Cross, Martin Lukeman, William O’Connor, Ross Smith, Connor Scutt and Luke Humphries, before being denied by De Decker.

Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Germany’s Gabriel Clemens and Scotland’s Cameron Menzies, with the duo continuing their quest to seal a place at October’s Boyle Sports World Grand Prix, whilst the likes of Gary Anderson, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Raymond Van Barneveld were amongst the high profile first round casualties.

Players Championship 16

Quarter Finals

Mike De Decker 6-5 Brendan Dolan

Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Gabriel Clemens

Luke Humphries 6-3 Cameron Menzies

Ricky Evans 6-5 Connor Scutt

Semi Finals

Mike De Decker 7-5 Karel Sedlacek

Ricky Evans 7-4 Luke Humphries

Final

Mike De Decker 8-2 Ricky Evans

It was again the turn of the most recent generation to breakthrough when Josh Rock picked up his third PDC title on Friday, after defeating Joe Cullen 8-6 in the final of Players Championship 17, as the Pro Tour events concluded.

Rock, who claimed his maiden European Tour title back in May, reached the final firstly by recording victories against Aden Kirk, Owen Roelofs, Scott Williams, Niels Zonneveld, Cameron Menzies and Ross Smith, to set up a clash with Cullen.

Nothing separated the pair in the early stages of the final, with two breaks of throw and two holds of throw in the opening four legs, before Rock charged in front by rattling off three successive legs in 16,14 and 13 darts respectively to move 5-2 ahead in a race to eight. Cullen then hit back by winning four of the following five legs, which saw ‘The Rockstar’ square the tie up at 6apiece and make it a best of three contest.

However, Rock denied the Former Masters Champion by winning the following two legs and sealing an 8-6 victory in Leg 14 with a 16 dart hold of throw to pick up a hattrick of ranking titles and a second of 2024.

Cullen’s resurgent run saw the Bradford star record victories on the day against Madars Razma, Paul Krohne, Gary Anderson, Chris Landman, James Hurrell and Florian Hempel, before denied by Rock.

Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for ‘Heavy Metal’ Ryan Searle and ‘Dynamite’ Keane Barry, whilst the likes of Michael Smith, Peter Wright and James Wade were amongst the high profile first round casualties.

The PDC Pro Tour returns on 21-22^nd August in Milton Keynes with Players Championship 18 & 19 taking place, with the 128 players competing for £125,000 in prize money each day.