Chris Dobey’s had worse Wednesdays. The Bedlington boy sealed his ticket to next month’s Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts with a classy Players Championship 33 triumph in Wigan – and he did it the hard way.
After brushing aside William O’Connor in a tight 8-6 finale, Dobey bagged his third Players Championship crown of the year and with it, one of two coveted Grand Slam berths for the most consistent performers on the ProTour. In short – steady graft finally paid off.
“It just shows if you keep at it, good things come,” said a buzzing Dobey, who averaged over 102 across seven matches.
“The Slam’s a big one. I’ve missed out a few times, so it’s great to be back. I’m playing well, picking up titles, and now I want to start turning it into TV wins. I’m not far off.”
He’s not wrong. Dobey opened with routine wins over Greg Ritchie and Rob Owen before turning into a one-man highlight reel.
He averaged 108 to flatten Jeffrey de Graaf, 107 to dispatch Damon Heta, then exploded with a ridiculous 111.29 to crush his mate Nathan Aspinall in the quarters.The 35-year-old didn’t slow down in the semis, strolling past Wessel Nijman 7-2, before being pushed all the way by O’Connor in the final.
The Irishman was in no mood to play sidekick – a 118 checkout levelled things early, and a huge 151 finish put him 6-5 up and dreaming of his first ProTour win since 2019.Cue Dobey mode. He hit back with legs of 12 and 16 darts before sealing the deal with a neat 64 finish on double four – averaging just shy of 100 for the match. Efficient, ruthless, and maybe just a touch smug.
O’Connor wasn’t far off himself. He saw off Robert Grundy, Michele Turetta and Andy Boulton to start, then edged a lightning-fast Chris Landman before storming back from 3-1 down to beat Thibault Tricole. A 7-2 walloping of Ryan Joyce took him to the final, but Dobey’s finishing proved the difference.
Joyce’s day wasn’t bad either – wins over Gabriel Clemens, Niko Springer and a comeback from 4-0 down to stun Richard Veenstra gave him another solid payday.
Nijman also shone, knocking out Raymond van Barneveld and whitewashing an unusually human-looking Gerwyn Price to make the semis.Speaking of Price – the Welshman still leads the Players Championship Order of Merit by £10,500, with only Heta and Ross Smith able to catch him in Thursday’s finale. Not that Gerwyn will lose sleep. Probably.
Elsewhere, two perfect legs lit up the day. Heta fired a nine-darter against George Killington, while Aspinall threw one against Ian White – his third perfect leg in a month. If nothing else, they’re making perfection look a bit casual these days.
All eyes now shift to Players Championship 34 – the final stop before the curtain falls on the 2025 ProTour season.
The race for Minehead is tight, and even world number one Luke Humphries isn’t safe yet, clinging to a £1,000 cushion above the qualification line.
Thursday also doubles as the last chance saloon for World Championship hopefuls, with the top 40 non-qualified players from the ProTour standings set to book their place at Ally Pally. Expect nerves, nine-darters, and at least one camera cut to a player looking mildly confused by the maths.
Coverage of all four streaming boards will be live on PDCTV, with German commentary for Board One – for those who prefer their 180s with a bit of “Jawohl!”
Players Championship 33 – Results at a Glance
Last 16: Ryan Joyce 6-5 Richard Veenstra, Cam Crabtree 6-2 Cameron Menzies, William O’Connor 6-5 Chris Landman, Thibault Tricole 6-4 Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price 6-1 Matt Campbell, Wessel Nijman 6-2 Ricky Evans, Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Luke Woodhouse, Chris Dobey 6-3 Damon Heta.
Quarter-Finals: Joyce 6-1 Crabtree, O’Connor 6-3 Tricole, Nijman 6-0 Price, Dobey 6-2 Aspinall.
Semi-Finals: O’Connor 7-2 Joyce, Dobey 7-2 Nijman.
Final: Chris Dobey 8-6 William O’Connor.
Nine-Darters: Nathan Aspinall (v Ian White), Damon Heta (v George Killington).
Dobey’s day, then. Another title, another reminder he’s knocking on the door of the elite. Keep this up, and it won’t just be the Grand Slam that’s calling – it’ll be the big boys wondering how to stop him.
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC
