Superb Wright denies Humphries to claim PC16 title

ProTour

Peter Wright picked up his second ranking title of 2021 with an 8-4 defeat of Luke Humphries in the Players Championship 16 final.

De Sousa goes back-to-back at Players Championship 15

ProTour

Jose de Sousa made it back-to-back PDC titles by winning Players Championship 15.

Superb De Sousa denies Van Gerwen to claim second 2021 title

ProTour

Jose de Sousa won his second Players Championship of 2021 by defeating Michael van Gerwen 8-6 in the PC14 final.

Aspinall & Barry miss remainder of PDC Super Series 4

ProTour

Nathan Aspinall and Keane Barry will miss the remainder of PDC Super Series 4.

Cullen defeats Price to win Players Championship 13

ProTour

Joe Cullen marked his return to PDC action with a second title of 2021.

Price ready to roar again after 'frustrating' three months

ProTour

Gerwyn Price is excited for a return to action at PDC Super Series 4.

Players Championships 13-16 entries confirmed

ProTour

Player entries have been confirmed for Players Championship events 13-16 (PDC Super Series 4).

PDC Super Series 5 moves to Coventry

ProTour

PDC Super Series 5 will now be staged at Coventry's Ricoh Arena from July 5-8.

One week until PDC stars return to action at Super Series 4

ProTour

The countdown to Super Series 4 is almost complete.

Further eight Players Championships confirmed for June & July

ProTour

A further eight Players Championship events have been confirmed for June and July 2021.

Josh Rock won his third senior ranking title, and a second of 2024, as he defeated Joe Cullen 8-6 in the final of Players Championship 17 in Milton Keynes.

The Northern Irish star claimed glory at the Dutch Darts Championship earlier this year, having initially tasted victory on the PDC ProTour with a Players Championship success in October 2022 as he burst onto the circuit.

He scooped another £15,000 title in style on Friday to conclude three days of Players Championship action at the Marshall Arena, edging out Cullen in a tight contest.

After sharing the final's first four legs, Rock needed just 43 darts to open up a 5-2 cushion, with a brace of double four finishes seeing Cullen cut the gap to one.

Rock took the next before Cullen levelled at six-all, only for the former World Youth Champion to power home a huge 170 finish for a 7-6 lead before opening the next leg with a maximum, creating the cushion for double eight to seal victory.

"I knew [the 170] had to go and it went, thankfully!" reflected Rock, who is now 17th on the PDC Order of Merit and within £2,000 of Danny Noppert.

"In my first year I had my first title and last year I had five finals and lost all five. This year I've had three finals and won two, which is a better record thankfully!

"Obviously I'm here to win and everybody else is here to win, but I'm going to keep pushing because I want that top 16 place and even after that top ten.

"I believe I'm good enough because obviously I can beat the best players. I know if I believe in myself - which I do - I'll get into the top two in the world."

Rock's route to the final was book-ended by ton-plus averages in wins over Aden Kirk and Ross Smith respectively.

He also defeated Owen Roelofs, Scott Williams and Niels Zonneveld before needing a deciding leg against Cameron Menzies in the quarter-finals.

"Cammy [Menzies] is one of the hardest players to play," added Rock. "He's got a better record against me than I do against him, and I wanted my own back on Ross Smith because of the [defeat in round one of the World] Matchplay."

Cullen, meanwhile, produced a ton-topping 102 average in his 7-2 semi-final win over Florian Hempel, as he sought to claim a first ranking title for almost two years.

The Bradford star also enjoyed a 6-1 win over double World Champion Gary Anderson during Friday's event, but was a runner-up for the second time in 2024 - matching his run to April's Austrian Darts Open final.

Smith reached his seventh semi-final of the year but lost out in his bid to claim his second ranking title of 2024, despite averaging 106.70 and 103.60 during the event.

Germany's Hempel enjoyed his best run for over two years and reached only his second semi-final on the PDC ProTour, seeing off Jonny Clayton, Mervyn King, Connor Scutt, Dave Chisnall and Ryan Searle in an impressive run.

Thursday's winner Mike De Decker was knocked out by Searle in the last 32, after seeing off Ricky Evans in a rematch of the Players Championship 16 final in round one.

Searle was joined in the last eight by James Hurrell, Keane Barry and Menzies, whose strong form continued with ton-plus averages against both Wessel Nijman and Gerwyn Price.

Luke Woodhouse opened Friday's event with a nine-darter during his first round whitewash of Richie Burnett, but lost out in the last 32 to Masters champion Stephen Bunting.

The PDC ProTour will resume on August 21-22 with a Players Championship double-header in Milton Keynes, with coverage to be streamed on PDCTV and bookmakers' websites worldwide.

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