Emotional Aspinall reflects on 'terrible' six months after title win

ProTour

An emotional Nathan Aspinall reflected on a nightmare six months after ending his two-year wait for a PDC ranking title on Sunday.

Aspinall battles injury to claim PC13 title

ProTour

The 2022 PDC ProTour season continues with Players Championship 13 in Barnsley on Sunday.

Van Duijvenbode edges out Searle for PC12 success

ProTour

Dirk van Duijvenbode claimed his second PDC ranking title with an 8-7 success over Ryan Searle in the Players Championship 12 final.

ET6, ET7 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers confirmed

European Tour

Tour Card Holder Qualifiers for European Tour Events 6 and 7 took place on Friday at the Barnsley Metrodome.

European Tour 6-7 seeds & qualifier entries confirmed

European Tour

Seeded players have been confirmed for European Tour Events Six and Seven, along with player entries for qualifiers.

Players Championships 12-13 entries confirmed

ProTour

Player entries have been confirmed for Players Championship events 12-13.

Sensational Searle seals Players Championship 11 success

ProTour

Ryan Searle scooped his third PDC ranking title with a superb 8-3 success against Nathan Aspinall in the Players Championship 11 final.

Comeback king Van Gerwen denies Wright to claim PC10 title

ProTour

Michael van Gerwen won his second Players Championship title within a week with a superb comeback to defeat Peter Wright.

Jansen claims maiden title at Players Championship 9

ProTour

Danny Jansen claimed his first PDC ranking title at Players Championship Nine in Barnsley on Friday.

Van Gerwen: "I will be top soon, don't worry!"

ProTour

Michael van Gerwen has warned rivals Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price that he has his sights set on returning to the top of the PDC Order of Merit.

Players Championship events are held throughout the year, with prize money won counting towards the ProTour Order of Merit

All Players Championship events will be streamed live for PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide with coverage from two boards throughout each event.

WILLIAM O'CONNOR claimed his first PDC title at Players Championship 13 in Barnsley on Tuesday.

The opening day of the ProTour mid-week double-header at the Barnsley Metrodome saw O'Connor defeat UK Open Champion Nathan Aspinall 8-4 in just his second PDC final, following up his European Darts Matchplay final appearance in July 2018.

O'Connor, who has competed on the PDC ProTour circuit since 2011, edged out Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 in his opening game of the day, before seeing off Luke Humphires and Luke Woodhouse 6-2 to reach the last 16.

There, he produced a stunning display, averaging 105.8 in a 6-4 win over Steve Beaton, which the Irishman followed up with a 6-5 quarter-final triumph over Jeffrey de Zwaan.

A 102.2 average was enough to overcome Daryl Gurney 7-5 in the semi-finals, before a convincing victory over Aspinall saw O'Connor land the £10,000 top prize.

"I'm a bit overwhelmed by it but I'm so happy to have won my first title," said O'Connor, who will represent the Republic of Ireland at the BetVictor World Cup of Darts in June.

"I've been playing well all year but haven't had any good results, so maybe I've used all my luck in one day.

"I'm happy to move up the rankings a bit and now I want to add a couple more titles to my name and see where it takes me.

"I have the game to win more, I just need to be more consistent and produce a lot better than I have been doing over the years, but the same can be said for many players on tour."

A hard-fought final began with four consecutive breaks of throw, before the pair exchanged holds to make it 3-3 after a tight opening.

O'Connor then hit tops to hold throw once again, and followed it with an 11-dart break to open up a two-leg gap for the first time at 5-3.

The Irish number two made no mistake on double 16 to assert his dominance at 6-3, before Aspinall stopped the rot with a hold of throw.

However, O'Connor showed no signs of wavering as he found double 12 for a 13-darter to go within a leg of the title, before the determined former Tom Kirby Memorial Trophy winner saw off 68 to seal a famous win.

Despite a below-par display in the final, Aspinall continued his sensational form with a first final appearance since being crowned UK Open Champion in March.

The World Championship semi-finalist, who claimed his first PDC title in Barnsley in September 2018, defeated Adrian Lewis 7-4 in a thrilling semi-final in what turned out to be the highlight of the Stockport thrower's day.

Elsewhere, Justin Pipe made it two quarter-final appearances in just over a month, while Christian Kist enjoyed a return to form with a first quarter-final berth since November 2016.

Departing Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld continued his resurgence with a run to the last 16, which included a first round defeat of Corey Cadby, while Peter Wright also made it to the last eight.

Premier League stars Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith were joined by Glen Durrant in exiting the tournament before the last 16 stage, while it was a disappointing return to Gary Anderson who was eliminated in the first round.