2018 European Darts Open Day Two

European Tour

PETER WRIGHT bounced back to form as he began his defence of the European Darts Open title in Leverkusen on Saturday.

2018 European Darts Open Draw

European Tour

FORMER European Tour winners James Wade and Steve Beaton will clash on the opening day of the European Darts Open on Friday.

Delight For White In PC6

ProTour

IAN WHITE ended a two-year gap between ranking titles by winning Sunday's Players Championship Six, edging out Dave Chisnall.

Van Gerwen Seals PC5 Title

ProTour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN's incredible 2018 continued as he clinched his third Players Championship title of the year.

Weekend Double For Brilliant Anderson

ProTour

GARY ANDERSON completed a brilliant weekend double by claiming victory in Players Championship Four on Sunday.

Anderson Wins Players Championship Three

ProTour

GARY ANDERSON continued his excellent form as he stormed to the Players Championship Three title in Barnsley

2018 ET3-4 UK Qualifiers

European Tour

CAMERON MENZIES landed a nine-dart finish as he claimed a double European Tour UK Qualifier success alongside six other players.

Players Championship 5-6 Entries

ProTour

THE entries for Players Championship 5&6 at Arena MK in Milton Keynes on March 17-18 have been confirmed.

ET3 & ET4 Entries Confirmed

European Tour

THE entries have been confirmed for the German Darts Open and Austrian Darts Open European Tour events.

DartConnect Introduction Proves Popular

News

DARTS fans are able to enjoy more in-depth coverage of PDC events than ever in 2018 following the introduction of DartConnect scoring.

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.

JEFFREY DE ZWAAN captured his second Players Championship title with a brilliant 8-2 win over Stephen Bunting in Wednesday's Event 14 final in Barnsley.

De Zwaan won his maiden senior title in March 2018 and went on to reach the World Matchplay semi-finals during a breakthrough year.

Having also competed as a Premier League Contender in 2019, De Zwaan has followed up his run to a ProTour final last month by going all the way to claim the £10,000 title at the Barnsley Metrodome.

The Dutchman was in superb form throughout the day, averaging over 100 in five out of six matches on his way to the final, including a 106.5 average in his third round defeat of World Championship finalist Michael Smith.

He also overcame Dave Chisnall and World Championship quarter-finalist Ryan Joyce before averaging almost 104 in his 7-3 semi-final win over former World Youth Champion Arron Monk.

Bunting had also been in fine form as he landed ton-plus averages against Jamie Lewis, Corey Cadby and Jelle Klaasen, while he also saw off Jamie Hughes and Joe Cullen.

The former Lakeside Champion then came back from 5-2 down in his semi-final against Darius Labanauskas to win 7-5.

De Zwaan raced into a 4-0 lead in the final, with his run including two 11-darters as he broke Bunting's throw to take command.

Bunting hit back in leg five on double 16, but missed his chance to battle back further as tops restored De Zwaan's cushion at 5-1 and double ten moved the 23-year-old five legs clear.

Bunting responded again in leg eight with a match-high 114 checkout, but De Zwaan landed three 134 scores on his way to a 7-2 lead before taking out 107 for a 12-darter to seal the title in style.

"I played really well today - the feeling was that I was flying, every dart I was throwing was going straight in and that's a great feeling," said De Zwaan.

"I'm happy with the win. I'm feeling good, my confidence is there and the darts are going great and I'm really happy."

De Zwaan was a winner on the PDC Unicorn Development Tour last month, and believes that his form is back to that which took him to the World Matchplay semi-finals last July.

"The Development Tour is a really good opportunity to grow in the PDC circuit," he added.

"In the first tournament I played seven games with a 100 average, and it's also a great opportunity to grow and get confidence as well.

"Last year I reached the semi-final of the World Matchplay and the pressure grows on you. Now I've learned how that feels and I'm dealing with the pressure and playing well again."

Bunting had won through to his first ProTour final for over 18 months with his form on the day, surpassing a quarter-final appearance on the European Tour in March with Wednesday's run.

Monk enjoyed his best finish in a Players Championship event since October 2012 as he followed up a quarter-final appearance in Event Ten last month with another strong showing.

Labanauskas, meanwhile, reached the semi-finals on the ProTour for the first time since securing his Tour Card in January.

The Lithuanian defeated Mark Webster, Jermaine Wattimena, Toni Alcinas, Brendan Dolan and Harry Ward on the day before falling victim to Bunting's fightback in the last four.

The event featured a number of outstanding performances, including a 114.2 average from Peter Wright as he whitewashed Gary Anderson in the last 32.

Krzysztof Ratajski averaged 112.3 in his first round win over Raymond van Barneveld, and went on to make the quarter-finals, while Dave Chisnall and Gerwyn Price also posted 106+ averages.

The next Players Championship double-header will be held on May 18-19 at the Barnsley Metrodome, with two further £75,000 tournaments taking place. Coverage will be streamed from two boards simultaneously at video.pdc.tv

See results and match stats through Dart Connect

Players Championship 14
Wednesday May 1
Last 16

Stephen Bunting 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Joe Cullen 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Darius Labanauskas 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Harry Ward 6-5 Peter Wright
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Arron Monk 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Glen Durrant

Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Joe Cullen
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Harry Ward
Arron Monk 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Ryan Joyce

Semi-Finals
Stephen Bunting 7-5 Darius Labanauskas
Jeffrey de Zwaan 7-3 Arron Monk

Final
Jeffrey de Zwaan 8-2 Stephen Bunting