DIMITRI Van den Bergh picked up his second title of the year on Wednesday, after an 8-3 victory over Matt Campbell in the final of Players Championship 12, as the Pro Tour double header concluded with another set of unlikely results to go with Alan Soutar’s debut win at Halle 39 on Tuesday.
Reigning UK Open Champion, Van den Bergh, reached the final firstly by recording victories against Martin Schindler, Maik Kuivenhoven, Mike De Decker, Dom Taylor, Boris Krcmar and Madars Razma, to set up a clash with Canada’s Campbell.
The final began with Campbell racing into a 2-0 lead, with winning legs coming in 15 and 17 darts respectively, before Van den Bergh halved the deficit in Leg Three with a 14-dart break of throw.
Campbell immediately broke back in Leg Four, before Van den Bergh incredibly rattled off seven legs in succession, which saw the Belgian seal the victory in Leg 11 with a 12-dart break of throw, to pick up a first Players Championship title since 2021 as well as the £15,000 top prize.
Campbell’s run to a second ranking final of his career saw the newly crowned North American Champion record victories against Darryl Pilgrim, Ross Smith, Wesley Plaisier, Gian Van Veen, Richard Veenstra and Danny Noppert, before being denied by Van den Bergh.
Only three of the eight quarterfinalists were ranked in the world ‘s top 16 as Campbell was joined by Keane Barry, Boris Krcmar, Madars Razma and Richard Veenstra all demonstrating the depth of talent within the Pro Tour players.
Elsewhere, there was a Quarter Final runs for 3x World Champion Michael Van Gerwen, whilst the likes of Raymond Van Barneveld, James Wade and Tuesday’s PC11 runner up Daryl Gurney were amongst the high profile first round casualties.
The PDC Pro Tour returns on 2-3rd July in Milton Keynes with Players Championship 13 & 14 taking place, with 128 players competing for £125,000 in prize money each day, with play beginning at 13:00 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 12
Last 16
Boris Krcmar 6-2 Haupai Puha
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Dom Taylor
Madars Razma 6-4 Andy Baetens
Michael Van Gerwen 6-1 Kai Gotthardt
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Ricky Evans
Matt Campbell 6-5 Gian Van Veen
Danny Noppert 6-3 Peter Wright
Keane Barry 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Quarter Finals
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Boris Krcmar
Madars Razma 6-3 Michael Van Gerwen
Matt Campbell 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Danny Noppert 6-4 Keane Barry
Semi Finals
Dimitri Van den Bergh 7-3 Madars Razma
Matt Campbell 7-4 Danny Noppert
Final
Dimitri Van den Bergh 8-3 Matt Campbell
–ENDS–
Image: PDC