Dirk Van Duijvenbode picked up his 1st title of the year on Sunday, after a dominant 8-2 victory over Ryan Searle in the final of Players Championship 4, as the second weekend of the 2023 Pro Tour season concluded in Barnsley.
Van Duijvenbode, the winner of 3 ranking titles previously, went all the way once again, as he reached the final by recording victories over Mervyn King, Geert Nentjes, Callan Rydz, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting and Joe Cullen, to set up a clash with Searle.
Nothing separated the duo in the opening stages of the final, beginning with back-to-back breaks of throw between the pair, followed by two straight holds of throw, before Van Duijvenbode rattled off six successive legs, which included a trio of 15 darters, and sealing victory in Leg 10 in 18 darts to pick up the £12,000 1st prize and a 4th ranking title of his career.
Searle, the winner of the opening Players Championship event of the year last weekend, reached the final by recording victories over Connor Scutt, Graham Hall, James Wade, Jeffrey Sparidaans, Maik Kuivenhoven and Dave Chisnall, before being denied by the Dutchman a chance to double his yearly title tally.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Finals runs for the first time in 2023 for Jim Williams and Krzysztof Kciuk, with the likes of Gerwyn Price, Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson among the high-profile names to suffer early exits.
The PDC Pro Tour returns on 11-12th March in Barnsley with Players Championship Five & Six taking place, with the 128 players competing for £100,000 in prize money each day, with play beginning at 13:00 GMT. Play will be broadcasted across two streaming boards on PDC.TV and various bookmaker websites worldwide, with all live scores and results on tv.dartconnect.com.
Players Championship 4
Last 16
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-2 Keane Barry
Ryan Searle 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Martin Schindler
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Josh Rock
Jim Williams 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Joe Cullen 6-2 Raymond Van Barneveld
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Quarter Finals
Ryan Searle 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Krzysztof Kciuk
Joe Cullen 6-3 Jim Williams
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Semi Finals
Ryan Searle 7-4 Dave Chisnall
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 7-6 Joe Cullen
Final
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 8-2 Ryan Searle
—ENDS—-
