Gabriel Clemens had his first taste of the PDC winner’s circle, as he stormed to Players Championship 24 glory. The German Giant has not had the rub of the green in the last year, failing to hit the heights of his previous self, but after a brilliant run to the final he picked up the final Pro Tour Event before the World Matchplay arrives in Blackpool.
The route to the final for Clemens was far from routine, where he defeated Thomas Lovely (6-3) and Michael van Gerwen (6-4) to cement himself in the last 32. From there, two wins in last-leg deciders against an inform Kevin Doets and Scott Williams showed where Clemens’ mindset is at right now.
A pair of wins against Irishmen in Mickey Mansell and Brendan Dolan had him on his way to glory, where in the latter, the German had a 100+ average.
Into the final, Clemens found himself in an early 4-1 lead, as he took advantage of missed doubles from Luke Woodhouse, who was bidding to find his third PDC title. Clemens then survived a scare , as Woodhouse recovered 4 legs on the spin to bring the game to 6-6. Some huge scoring in the best-of-three shootout afforded him a plethora of opportunities, which he took with aplomb.
Eventually, Clemens found his feet again and came out a 8-6 victor after a nothing-but astonishing 170 checkout for the match, as the German Giant entered the winners enclosure for the first time.
As for Luke Woodhouse, the Englishman can take many positives from his performance today. With the Matchplay just around the corner, wins picked up along the way to yet another final on the floor can give him considerable confidence in winning his first match at the Winter Gardens on his third attempt.
Elsewhere, Joe Cullen backed up his nine-dart heroics in defeat yesterday with a second round victory against Mensur Suljovic, in which the Rockstar averaged just shy of 106 (6-3). After Cullen produced perfection yesterday, Scott Williams became the second player to secure silver pin badge here in Leicester this week, after he achieved the feat in a top 16 battle with Gabriel Clemens. Though, like Cullen, Shaggy fell to defeat (6-5).
Commiserations must be handed to Tom Bissell who has suffered consecutive first round exits in Leicester, averaging 104 in both matches (5-6 v Chisnall, 5-6 v Van Gerwen).
Images: PDC
