Betfred World Matchplay race latest ahead of PC18-21

Betfred World Matchplay

The race to qualify for the 2022 Betfred World Matchplay reaches its climax at Players Championships 18-21.

Players Championships 18-21 entries & European Tour 10-11 seeds confirmed

ProTour

Player entries have been confirmed for Players Championship events 18-21, along with European Tour 10-11 seeds.

PDC's November 2022 schedule confirmed

News

The Grand Slam of Darts will return to Wolverhampton in 2022, following confirmation of November's PDC schedule.

Wonderful Williams claims incredible win at PC17

ProTour

Scott Williams claimed a host of huge scalps to clinch his first PDC Pro Tour title in fairytale fashion at Players Championship 17 on Wednesday.

Sensational Smith lands third consecutive Pro Tour title at PC16

ProTour

Michael Smith continued his magnificent form to clinch a third consecutive Pro Tour title with victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode in a remarkable Players Championship 16 final in Germany.

2022 Players Championship 16-17 entries confirmed

ProTour

Entries have been confirmed for the Players Championship double-header in Niedernhausen on June 14-15.

Two new Players Championship dates confirmed

ProTour

Two Players Championship events originally scheduled to be held later in 2022 have been rescheduled.

Nine-dart Smith goes back-to-back at Players Championship 15

ProTour

Michael Smith produced a stunning day of darts to earn his second title in two days at Players Championship 15.

Michael Smith scoops Players Championship 14 title

ProTour

Michael Smith secured his first title of 2022 at Players Championship 14.

ET8, ET9 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers confirmed

European Tour

Tour Card Holder Qualifiers for European Tour Events Eight and Nine took place on Monday in Wigan.

Keegan Brown secured his first ProTour title for seven years with a dramatic 8-7 defeat of Nathan Aspinall in Thursday's Players Championship 23 final in Barnsley.

Wednesday's winner Aspinall was chasing back-to-back victories after winning through to another decider at the Metrodome.

However, the former World Youth Champion battled back from 7-6 down to snatch victory and the £12,000 top prize.

Brown had also led 2-0 and 6-4 during the final, only to see Aspinall survive missed match darts in leg 11, finish 170 to level at six-all and then land double two to move ahead.

Brown took the tie to a deciding leg, and he was first to a finish before returning from a missed double top to secure the title on double ten.

"I'm absolutely over the moon," admitted Brown. "Nathan's a champion, he's a fighter but I thought to myself to stick with him, you get a chance with anyone.

"I think I've got luck on my side. I felt confident and it's a long time since I felt confident."

Brown had knocked out World Champion Peter Wright with a 7-4 success, and he also defeated Jose de Sousa, Darren Webster, Luc Peters, Danny Baggish and Chris Dobey on the day.

The Isle of Wight star's only previous senior PDC title had come in 2015 at a Players Championship in Coventry, but Thursday's win eases the pressure he was facing about potentially losing his Tour Card at the end of the year.

"Never give up," he admitted. "I can't tell you how many times over the last two years I wanted to pack it all away. My sponsors had faith in me, I kept plodding along and here we are.

"It's been awful, but darts is a marathon, not a sprint and you have to keep plugging away. I wanted to save my Tour Card and it's the only time I've ever probably believed in myself."

Aspinall continued the fine form which had seen him win Wednesday's opening event of the treble-header.

The former UK Open champion averaged 103 in wins over Rusty-Jake Rodriguez and Andrew Gilding, before he edged through a tight semi-final with Ted Evetts in a deciding leg.

World Youth Champion Evetts - who turned 25 on Wednesday - enjoyed his best run of the year as he overcame reigning UK Open champion Danny Noppert in one of five wins.

Wright overcame Michael Smith in a repeat of the World Championship final during his run to the last four, while Smith was joined by Alan Soutar, Shaun Wilkinson and Dobey in the quarter-finals.

The day also featured a nine-dart finish from Jack Main, although the achievement was not enough to help him win his first round tie with Rob Cross.

The week's third Players Championship event on Friday from 1200 BST will see the sport's biggest names battling it out for the £12,000 winner's prize at the Barnsley Metrodome.

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