ALAN Soutar picked up his first PDC title on Tuesday, after defeating Daryl Gurney 8-7 in the Final of Players Championship Eleven, as the Pro Tour double header commenced at Halle 39, Hildesheim.
Scotland’s Soutar, who has held a PDC Tour Card since 2021, reached the final by recording victories against Steve Beaton, Martin Lukeman, Danny Noppert, Ritchie Edhouse, Niels Zonneveld and Dirk Van Duijvenbode, to set up a clash with Gurney.
Soots, as the Scot is known, becomes the eleventh different winner from the 11 Players Championship events as the 2024 season’s run of different winners continued.
The final began with six straight holds of throw between the pair, ending with Gurney breaking Soutar’s throw in Leg Seven with a 12 darter, which was then followed by a 16 dart hold to move 5-3 ahead in a race to eight.
Soutar bounced back by winning back-to-back legs in 14 and 18 darts respectively, before the pair shared the following four legs to send the tie all the way to a 15th and deciding leg.
The advantage proved to be vital for ‘Soots’, who fired in 2 180’s on route to hitting an 11 darter, to seal an 8-7 victory and pick up the £15,000 top prize as well as a maiden PDC ranking title.
Gurney’s run to a first final of the season saw the Northern Irishman record victories at Halle 39, against Matthew Dennant, George Killington, Mervyn King, Jermaine Wattimena, James Wade and Raymond Van Barneveld, before being denied the chance by Soutar of picking up a first title, in just under five years.
Elsewhere, there were Quarter Final runs for Dutchman Kevin Doets and Latvia’s Madars Razma, whilst the likes of 3x World Champion Michael Van Gerwen, UK Open Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh and Top Seed Dave Chisnall were amongst the high profile first round casualties.
The day also saw two nine dart legs hit by Stephen Bunting and Adam Hunt against Belgian duo Robbie Knops and Kim Huybrechts respectively.
The PDC Pro Tour double header concludes on Tuesday with Players Championship 12 taking place in Hildesheim, as the 128 players return to compete for a further £125,000 in prize money, with play beginning at 13:00 CET (12:00 BST).
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 11
Last 16
Raymond Van Barneveld 6-2 Scott Williams
Kevin Doets 6-5 Mike De Decker
James Wade 6-4 Damon Heta
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Alan Soutar 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Madars Razma 6-1 Gerwyn Price
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-1 Stephen Burton
Quarter Finals
Raymond Van Barneveld 6-4 Kevin Doets
Daryl Gurney 6-4 James Wade
Alan Soutar 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-1 Madars Razma
Semi Finals
Daryl Gurney 7-4 Raymond Van Barneveld
Alan Soutar 7-0 Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Final
Alan Soutar 8-7 Daryl Gurney
–ENDS–
Image: PDC
