Wesley Plaisier picked up his first PDC Pro Tour title of his career on Wednesday, after defeating Josh Rock 8-7 in the final of Players Championship 28, as the midweek double header concluded in Wigan.
Plaisier, a back-to-back finalist on the Pro Tour back in July, went a step further on Wednesday by clinching the £15,000 top prize, as he reached the final firstly by recording victories against Matt Campbell, Ritchie Edhouse, Florian Hempel, Krzysztof Ratajski, Jose De Sousa and Danny Noppert, to set up a clash with Rock.
The semi-final line up featured three Dutchman from four players with Danny Noppert and Dirk Van Duijvenbode joining the Northern Irishman.
The final began with back-to-back holds of throw between the pair, before there was a run of five straight breaks of throw, ending with Rock holding throw in Leg Eight with a 17 darter to move 5-3 ahead in a race to eight.
Plaisier then battled back by rattling off three successive legs in 15,13 and 16 darts respectively to move 6-5 in front, before Rock pinned a 15 darter to square the tie up at 6apiece. The pair then held throw in the following two legs to set up a 15th and deciding leg, in which Plaisier would have the advantage of throwing first.
The Dutchman eventually sealed the victory in 20 darts, however, he survived six match darts from Rock before going on to pin tops to produce a landmark moment in becoming just the fourth player to win a PDC ranking title despite not holding a Tour Card, as he followed in the footsteps of previous winners in Joe Murnan, Krzysztof Ratajski and Scott Williams.
Rock’s run to yet another ranking final saw the Northern Irishman record victories on the day against Scott Williams, Josh Payne, Andrew Gilding, George Killington, Jonny Clayton and Dirk Van Duijvenbode, before being denied by Plaisier. In his Last 16 victory against Killington, Rock fired in a perfect nine dart leg along the way.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Former World Champion Michael Smith and 2x ranking title winner Ryan Joyce, whilst the likes of Tuesday’s PC27 winner Michael Van Gerwen and Australia’s Number One Damon Heta were amongst the high profile first round casualties.
Jonny Clayton’s return to form seems to be progressing again as he reached the latter stages once more. The Welshman bowed out to Rock in the quarterfinals but had impressed along the way again especially in a 6-5 win over the in form Dave Chisnall.
The PDC Pro Tour returns on 30-31st October in Leicester with Players Championship 29 & 30 taking place, with the 128 players competing for £125,000 in prize money each day, as the Players Championship season draws to a close.
Play will be broadcasted across four streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com.
Players Championship 28
Last 16
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Josh Rock 6-2 George Killington
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-1 Wessel Nijman
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Mervyn King
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jose De Sousa 6-1 Mensur Suljovic
Michael Smith 6-4 Ryan Searle
Danny Noppert 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Quarter Finals
Josh Rock 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Jose De Sousa
Danny Noppert 6-5 Michael Smith
Semi Finals
Josh Rock 7-6 Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Wesley Plaisier 7-5 Danny Noppert
Final
Wesley Plaisier 8-7 Josh Rock
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
