Ryan Searle won his first Players Championship event of 2022 as he beat Nathan Aspinall 8-3 in the final of event 11 with an average of 103.02 after losing to Luke Humphries in the final of event 1 back in February.
“Heavy Metal” was in good form all day and produced his best arrows in the final with Aspinall, including an eleven-dart leg to go 4-1 up. Aspinall averaged 100.88 himself and can be happy with his days’ work reaching his first Pro Tour final of the year.
Englishman Searle beat the likes of Gordon Mathers in the Last 16 and Josh Rock in the quarter final, as he included a 100.20 average in whitewashing Rock and reaching the next round. His Semi-Final with Rob Cross saw the former world champion average more than him as Searle impressed on his doubling and included a 100 check out in the second leg which was the highest of any player in the match.
Nathan Aspinall reached his first final of the year and came through some tough matches in event 11, which saw “The Asp” hit averages of 103.99 in beating event 10 semi-finalist Jose de Sousa 6-4 in the Last 16.
Aspinall found even more form in the Semi-Final against Dave Chisnall where he averaged 105.83 in a 7-5 win.
It has been a real struggle for the Englishman since his brutal Ally Pally defeat to Callan Rydz back in December last year, but his run in Barnsley on Sunday can give him some confidence going into further events down the line.
Vincent van der Voort had a strong run in Barnsley reaching the quarter finals, as the Dutch Destroyer defeated event 10 runner up and world number one Peter Wright 6-4 in the third round.
The Dutchman’s run was ended at the hands of Dave Chisnall 6-2 as “Chizzy” averaged over 100 in reaching the Semi Finals.
Van der Voort had to withdraw from the World Championship because of a positive COVID test, after beating Adam Hunt in the first round just before Christmas but played some impressive darts in his run to the last eight on Sunday.
Joe Cullen also reached the Quarter Finals in Barnsley on Sunday and included a very impressive 105.49 average in beating Ryan Meikle 6-1 in the Third Round, as well as beating James Wade in the Last 16 6-4 to avenge his defeat to “the Machine” in Birmingham on Thursday.
The darting action returns with the Premier League on Thursday in the PDC and the WDF World Championships have now begun with tournament favourites Mikuru Suzuki and Connor Scutt in action at Lakeside tonight.
Players Championship 10 Last 16 Results:
Josh Rock 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Ryan Searle 6-4 Gordon Mathers
Joe Cullen 6-4 James Wade
Rob Cross 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Steve Beaton
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ian White
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Jose de Sousa
Callan Rydz 6-5 Eddie Lovely
Quarter Finals:
Ryan Searle 6-0 Josh Rock
Rob Cross 6-5 Joe Cullen
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Callan Rydz
Semi Finals:
Ryan Searle 7-6 Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall 7-5 Dave Chisnall
Final:
Ryan Searle 8-3 Nathan Aspinall
—–ENDS——
