Heta Holds Nerve to Claim Ninth Players Championship Title

Australia’s World Cup captain Damon Heta was in majestic form this afternoon. The Heat’ claimed his ninth career Players Championship title with a dramatic last-leg shootout win over Stephen Bunting.

The affable Antipodean – who surprisingly, once needed that adjective explaining to him – made it a brace for the season, adding to his win in Rosmalen back in April.

And it didn’t take long for Heta to get going in Leicester, easing past Dutchman Patrick Geerearts 6-1 in his opener.From there, it was a trail of English casualties. First Ted Evetts, then Bradley Brooks – who was likely still high on his ridiculous 117 plus change average from the previous round – both found themselves on the receiving end.

Next up, Madars Razma succumbed before the Perth native steamrolled Daryl Gurney 6-1 in the quarters, dismantling Northern Ireland’s World Cup winner with barely a blink.Then came The Iceman, Gezzy Price.

Prior to the match, the Welshman had been enjoying a productive afternoon in the East Midlands – right up until he ran into a 109.14 average from Heta, who calmly ousted the Poland Masters champ 7-5 in a high-class semi-final.That set up a showdown with Stephen Bunting – a man who sees more finals than most but has been left holding the silver platter a few too many times.

Despite picking up a title on his last Leicester visit, The Bullet had previously lost six finals on the bounce. And for a while, it looked like unlucky number seven in under twelve months was incoming.Bunting stormed into a 2-0 lead, but Heta – minus his usual foam flamed hat and flamboyant walk-on – rattled off six legs on the spin to have his wife Meaghan, perhaps warming the engine.

To the Scouser’s credit, he fought back to 6-4 – which soon stretched to 7-4.

However, the former Lakeside Champ got his shooting boots on and eventually forced a decider.

The comeback was short-lived though as Heta managed to hold firm on throw and got the job done. During his post-match interview, the Aussie burst into song.

That’s when I switched off the iPad and started typing this. Elsewhere, the World Matchplay race remains unchanged.

The top sixteen via the Pro Tour Order of Merit stays exactly as it was, which will frustrate Michael Smith.

The former World Champ now needs at least a semi-final showing tomorrow to keep his Blackpool streak alive.

And with one day left before the dreaded cut-off, you sense for the likes of Ryan Joyce, Joe Cullen, Luke Woodhouse and Barney hanging on to the last few qualification spots – it can’t come soon enough.