The opening day of the Players Championship triple-header in Leicester belonged to Ryan Searle, who saw off Mario Vandenbogaerde 8-6 to claim the title and prove once again that despite not being blessed with the greatest sense of vision, it doesn’t seem to matter when throwing a small tungsten missile at a tiny target about eight feet away.
Since his maiden success in 2020, Searle has managed the oddly consistent trick of winning exactly one floor event per year. This, however, breaks the pattern – his second of 2025, following his earlier win in Rosmalen. The Devonian won’t really care about breaking the trend.
Fresh from a quarter-final run at the Swiss Darts Trophy, Searle started briskly, brushing aside Richie Edhouse and Jamai van den Herik. He then ran into Nathan Aspinall, who decided to test the limits of Searle’s patience by clawing back from 5-2 down.
Thankfully for Ryan, The Asp ran out of venom at the finish, and the long-haired chucker squeaked through.Looking for something calmer next, Searle instead found himself in the same boat – another nail-biter against Karel Sedlacek, who swapped seats with Aspinall and rowed into a 5-3 lead.
Cue Searle’s late surge: three legs on the spin to snatch it away.
Scottish slinger, Darren Beveridge was next – making a rare last-eight cameo – but his run ended when Searle produced his day’s best average, a tidy 102.62, to move on 6-4. Kevin Doets was then brushed aside with a round-ton average to set up the final.
Enter Super Mario. Not exactly a regular in the business end of these tournaments – his deepest run this year had been the fourth round – but he looked like a man on a mission. The Belgian had already seen off Michael Smith, Daryl Gurney, and Ross Smith: three major winners and three excellent scalps.
At 52, Vandenbogaerde proved experience still counts, edging Jermaine Wattimena in the quarters after the Dutchman obligingly fluffed his lines at 5-3 up. Brendan Dolan was next, but he looked like a man running on fumes, and Mario marched on.
The final was a fitting scrap. Neither player ever really pulled clear. At 6-5 up, Vandenbogaerde could almost sniff glory – until Searle slapped him with a 12-darter to level. A break of throw followed, and despite Mario’s stubborn resistance, the Devon man held firm to seal the title with a tournament average of 98 and twenty 180s for good measure.
Not bad for someone who often struggles to see the board clearly – making the rest of us with perfect eyesight wonder what our excuse is.
And finally, a quick word on perfection: just the three nine-darters today. Niko Springer, Stefan Bellmont, and Adam Hunt all join the shiny-pin club. Clearly, someone needs to make those trebles a touch smaller.
Quarter-Finals
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Michele Turetta
Kevin Doets 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Ryan Searle 6-4 Darren Beveridge
Semi-Finals
Mario Vandenbogaerde 7-3 Brendan Dolan
Ryan Searle 7-4 Kevin Doets
Final
Ryan Searle 8-6 Mario Vandenbogaerde
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC
